


Regina's Ill

by E_Panda



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Family Drama, Fluff, Romance, Swan Queen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-05-16 20:59:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 70,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14818766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E_Panda/pseuds/E_Panda
Summary: Regina comes down with the flu and it is up to Emma to nurse her back to health. but then as their friendship becomes stronger. Something happens at the town line.  Once again it's up to the Hero's to fix it. But this time their foe is a bit to close to home.  Can Regina fix a mistake of the past?





	1. The Headache

Regina sat at her desk, she was looking through some of the expense forms for the town. There was a knock on her office door. Her head was pounding from reading all day so she used her magic to open the door. She flicked her wrist and the door swung open. Emma was stood in the doorway holding a file. She lifted her eyebrow as the door had opened by its self.

"I think magic is making you lazy," Emma said, as she walked into the room and placed the file on Regina's desk. Regina looked at her then looked back to her paperwork.

"Miss Swan, I distinctly remember you using your magic last week to clean your bedroom, which our son had to tell you to clean," Regina said in reply to Emma's comment on her ability to stay active. She tried not to give away her smile in hopes Emma wouldn't notice her laughing.

"I'm a busy woman. In between being the Saviour, the Sheriff and one of Henry's mom's. I don't get much time to ..." Emma said trying to defend herself. Regina interrupted her.

"Pick up your unmentionables? Regina said. She couldn't stop the smirk that came to her face the moment the sentence left her mouth.

"He didn't?" Emma said her face turning a faint red the more embarrassed she got.

"Oh, he did. He tells me more than you think he does. Now that he trusts me. He even told me what color they were and I've got to say I was surprised. Henry, however, was a little scared by the incident" Regina said now laughing at Emma's embarrassed, blushing face. Emma decided she needed to change the subject.

"Anyway, I brought over the file you wanted," She said pointing at it, trying to change the subject before Regina said anything else about what Henry said to her.

" I asked you to bring this file over two days ago" Regina's voice making its way back to its commanding resonance. She was used to Emma's disliking for paperwork, that didn't mean she wouldn't grill her every time it was late. She knew that Emma couldn't sit at a desk for more than five minutes.

" Well it wasn't ready until today, so I couldn't have brought it over until today," Emma said. Regina let out a pained groan. Emma wasn't sure if it was because of her disregard for Regina's need for everything to be organized or because the woman was in pain.

"You OK Regina? I promise next time I'll try harder to get the files here on time" She said now convinced from the pained expression on Regina's face that it wasn't about the files.

" I have a headache. I've been doing these files all day and the people in the town might be from a book but none of them know how these should be done. Your mother is the worst she adds in which child used the pencils. I need to know how many they use, not the life story of the person using them." Regina said shaking her head. Emma laughed slightly at Regina's words about Snow.

" She loves those kids and you're just stressed out. You need to go home and rest before you go blind. You might even be getting Henry's cold from last week" Emma said. She was surprised to feel anxious about Regina being ill. It shocked her as much as it did Regina.

"I'm not sick Miss Swan, just merely tired. If I don't finish these, the whole town is behind for a week. It is hard to catch up. I have never been sick, not once in all the time I have had Henry. Headache's of course, that was bound to happen in this town. It's just a tension headache, I'll be fine by the morning." Regina said not convincing herself because this headache was evil. More Evil than her other persona. Well, it hadn't killed anyone...Yet...

"OK, Regina I'll go along with it for now. But if I know anything about you, It's that I have never seen your skin that color before." Emma said, noting that Regina's face was extremely pale and the woman didn't look at all comfortable.

" Go, Emma, I'm fine" Regina weakly waved Emma off. Emma just gave her a look of disagreement and left.

Regina tried her best to concentrate but the pain in her head was getting worse. She was beginning to wonder if it was just headache after all. She heard about something called a migraine that was supposedly a lot worse than a headache. Her stomach was a little unsettled. She tried once more to focus but when her eyes began to hurt more she gave up. Maybe Emma was right, she needed her bed.

She got up slowly from her office chair and picked up her coat. She walked out the office explaining to someone along the way that she was going. She didn't pay enough attention to who it was to know if they would tell someone. She got into her car and drove home slowly trying her hardest to avoid any slight unwanted movement. She got to her house and went to get a glass of water to take up to bed with her. She changed into her warmest pajama's and climbed into bed. Instantly she fell asleep.

Regina was awoken by a knock on the front door. She checked her the time on her phone it was 10:30. She had slept longer than she had wanted. Although her headache had calmed down it still sat in her head making every step downstairs agony. She tried from her place on the stairs to open the door with her magic. It didn't budge. She huffed then went to open it herself.

She opened the door and saw Henry and Emma stood there.

"I was just dropping him off. You didn't meet us at the diner earlier so I guessed you had taken my advice. I took him back to mine for a while but I thought should drop him off with you so he can sleep in his own bed." Emma said. She took in Regina's appearance and couldn't help the giggle that escaped her mouth." I never pictured you as a DC fan" Emma commented. Regina stood in her doorway dressed in a Wonder woman all in one and she had a blanket draped around slightly like a cape.

"To be honest Mom, I never thought you would actually wear it," Henry said throwing his head back and laughing. He had gotten it as a joke Christmas present for her. He never thought he would be lucky enough to see his mother actually wearing it.

"It looked warm and I'm freezing." She was still shaking even though she had her pajama's on and a thick blanket wrapped around her.

"Emma said you might have caught my cold. I told her she was wrong but I don't think she was Mom. I think you already have it. Your face is super pale and well you look like your barely managing to stay upright" Henry said walking inside with Emma, who closed the door behind her trying to keep the warm air in the house.

" I promise I am fine Henry, It's just a bad headache." She said not wanting to appear weak in front of her son.

" Regina you looked after Henry when he was ill. It's our time to look after you. We are just making sure you get better." Emma said unsure how Regina would respond to her willingness to help her.

" You would do that for me?" Regina said taken back by Emma's hospitality towards her. Did Emma Swan, the Saviour just say she would be her nurse? That brought a small smile to Regina's face.

" Gina you are family, we look after our family. You are sick and we as your family want to look after you" Emma said now sure Regina was getting more used to the idea of someone helping her. The brunette could be stubborn but Emma knew if the cold was as bad as it looked, it wouldn't be hard for Regina to give in a little.

" Well, I'm telling you I am not sick. I will be fine in the morning you will see" Regina insisted unsure about Emma being the one who brings her back to health.

"OK, but if you get any worse call me and I'll come with supplies and stay with you until I know you are getting better. I'm not so sure Henry would know what to do. He usually just gets given a couple mouthful's of medicine and he's right as rain in a few days. An adult cold is a whole new thing to him and probably you."Emma said. She gave Henry a hug and ruffled his hair.

" Night Mom see you tomorrow." He said as he ran upstairs to get dressed.

" See you in the morning buddy" Emma shouted up after him. Regina winced at the loud sound. Emma noticed.

" Good night Gina. Drink plenty of water and um..." Emma stared she checked her pockets and pulled out a couple of mild painkillers she kept on her in case. She held them out to Regina who took them confused.

" Take those they are painkillers they should help with your headache, at least enough that you can get back to sleep," Emma said knowing it had to be bad if Regina was showing her pain.

"Thank you, Emma." She said taking the painkillers gratefully. " Good night I will call if it gets any worse." even though she wasn't sure if she actually would. Having Emma look after might become uncomfortable. Emma just nodded and smiled at her. She walked back towards her bug and got in to go home. Regina waved her goodbye as she drove off. She shut the door quietly and made her way back upstairs. She took the tablets that Emma had gave her and then went to check on Henry who was sat up in bed doing homework that he probably should have finished by now.

"How much more have you got left to do?" She asked hoping the boy wouldn't be up all night finishing his work.

"Just this piece and I'm all caught up. I did most of it at Emma's" He said as he pulled his attention away from his work and towards his ill-looking mother. He patted the bed next to him so Regina would sit down. She looked a little wobbly as she sat down and put her arm around Henry who leaned against her.

" Mom if you are really ill please let me and Emma look after you. No one should be ill all alone." He said looking at his mother. "Your skin is a little too hot. I think you are really sick Mom and that means you need to rest." He looked worried and almost a little lost. He wanted to take away the pained expression that kept crossing his mother's features but he knew there wasn't much anyone could do for a cold. " Go back to bed Mom don't make yourself feel worse for me. I will be fine" he assured her, knowing she was worrying more about him than herself. Regina nodded slowly.

"Ok, ok I'm going to bed but, you better not stay up late finishing your work. You have school tomorrow and it's already late." Regina said as she tried to lift herself off the bed an Henry had to help her stand " Good night sweetness, I love you" She said. She bent down to kiss his forehead.

"Night Mom, I love you too," He said and smiled sweetly at his Mom who smiled back at him. She left the room slowly and made her way back to her warm bedroom. She crawled into the bed and closed her eyes. Emma's painkillers had finally kicked in and she was suddenly very grateful to have Emma around. She slowly sunk into sleep.

Emma had gotten back to her house faster than usual. The late hour meant almost no cars on the roads. If there was one thing Emma hadn't gotten used to in Storybrooke, it was the quiet nights. She was used to running around late at night chasing criminals or suspects. Storybrooke seemed to have an unspoken curfew that almost everyone acknowledges unless there was an emergency. She usually used the free time to hang with her family but it was a weekday and everyone was in bed when she had gone back. As she walked into the flat she tried to stay quiet hoping that she wouldn't wake her parents, who were bound to be asleep by now considering it was almost eleven. She made herself a hot chocolate and went off to her bed. She got dressed in her pajama's and got into bed. She checked her phone as she sipped her drink. She decided to send Regina a text:

Hey Regina, text me in the morning if you're not feeling any better and I will bring some medicine for you. I don't think you have been ill in maybe forever so I want to make sure you are okay and that you don't just use magic to get rid off it because Henry will be pissed if you wish your's away and he has to suffer through being sick.

Emma x

She sent the text and settled down to sleep for the night. In her head she made a mental list of things she would have to bring for Regina to get better:

Lot's of tissues

vapor rub

cold and flu medicine

magazines? (which weekly... vogue?)

The list faded as she fell deeper into her slumber.


	2. Bathroom floor Luxury

Regina woke up in the middle of the night. Her stomach felt strange and extremely uncomfortable. Horrible bile rose in the throat, she suddenly realised what was about to happen. She quickly (well as quickly as her body would allow her to go) sprinted to bathroom and the slammed the door behind her. Hoping the noise didn't wake Henry, she tried to be as quite as she could but nothing was going to muffle the noise. The bile once again burned its way to her mouth and before she knew it she was over the toilet. She felt even more worse for wear that before she . She felt her nausea easy a little just as the bathroom door slowly opened, revealing a panicked Henry stood in the doorway holding a glass of water. She took it gratefully as Henry came into the room. He sat on the floor next to her.

"You didn't need to get out of bed love, I'm fine" Regina said, her voice was scratchy. She took a sip of water and set the glass down on the cold floor.

" Mom you just threw up at four in the morning. I think I had to come to see if you are OK, plus you always look after me when I'm ill. Now it's my turn"Henry said in a mature voice that shocked Regina. Her little prince was growing up. She smiled weakly at him, then spontaneously without prier warning threw up again. This time almost missing the toilet. Henry rubbed her back soothingly like she had done for him on so many occasions.

"Ew" Regina said, as her stomach finally gave up and she lay on the floor. The cold tile felt good on her now hot skin. She must have sweated quite a lot when she was sleeping because her pajama's, which were fresh on, were now damp from sweat.

"Henry do you mind passing me some fresh pajama's. I need to change, I smell ... really bad" Regina was a little revolted at her current state. She wanted to have a bath. Considering she couldn't get the momentum to leave the floor of the bathroom, that would have to wait until she was feeling better. Henry nodded and went to fetch some.

Regina lay on the floor a little longer to savour the cold on her back. She rolled ungracefully onto her front, to try and sit up on her shins. She got there slowly after resting her forehead for much longer than needed. Her headache had gotten worse. The tiniest movement made it throb, making her stomach swirling viciously. She managed to reach the toilet before she emptied what ever remained in her stomach, which wasn't a lot.

Emma's tablets must of worn off and she had nothing in the house, she was never ill so she didn't feel the need to buy thing that she never had a use for before now. It was then she decided to go against her usually ways and admitted she need help. She glanced at her phone on the bedside table. A green light was flashing in the darkness of her bedroom. Henry came in hold out some of her pajama's. She felt yet another churning in her stomach and promptly threw up ... again.

"That was kinda gross" Henry said, he placed the fresh pajama's on his mom's lap.

" Thank you Henry, I'm sorry you have to deal with me like this. Could you pass me my phone, Someone has messaged me. Regina asked, usually she would do these things herself but at the moment she was to terrified to move.

She had no idea how she had gotten sick but she was going to have to deal with it. There was no potion or spell that could cure this. She had tried with Henry when he had a particularly bad case of the flu. He passed her the phone and she read the message from Emma. She called her back not having the patience to type her message back. It rang a few times until Regina heard a tired Hello on the other end.

" I'm sorry I woke you up, could you please get me something. I hurt all over. I just spent the last half an hour with my head over the toilet and I think my brain might explode. Henry is up at the moment helping me, but he has school in the morning and he is already tired. I'll be able to give you time off. I don't think the school would appreciate me taking my son out of school to look after me. Please just help me I know this is crap timing, but its almost unbearable Emma." Regina said trying to convey her pain over the phone. She thought that maybe she was being over dramatic but she had never felt this weak before. She could barely hold the phone to her ear, her arm was shook from the energy it was taking to hold it up . She hated the feeling of being vulnerable. Her body couldn't decide what temperature it wanted too be one moment she would feel boiling hot, the next she was freezing cold and shivering.

"It's fine Gina. I'd rather look after you then let Henry do it. He has school and I don't think he will know what to do. Adult cold is different from children's cold. There a lot more umm....for a polite word grotesque?Plus I'm used to late nighs in fact I sometimes prefer them" Emma said. Regina could hear rustling in the back ground and knew Emma was already in the car. She must of left as soon as she had answered the call. Regina was surprised and strangely soothed by the fact that Emma's was going look after her. She heard the beetle start." I'll be there in five minutes."

" Thank you Emma. Again I'm sorry it's late I just have no idea what to do" Regina admitted.

" Is kinda weird that you don't know how to be ill, I'm kind of jealous. It's fine, just chill and ask Henry to take your temperature and get back into bed" Emma hung up so she could drive. Henry went downstairs to get the thermometer. Regina slowly coxed herself into her new pajama's. It was a little uncoordinated and she had almost fell over but finally she got there. She shuffled to her bed and lay down.

Henry came back upstairs He gave Regina the thermometer and lay a cold flannel on her head to help her cool down. There was a knock on the front door and Henry ruched down to answer it. A few minute later Henry came back up with Emma at his heels holding a bag with Regina's medicine and entertainment she had quickly grabbed from the nearest open shop on her way to their house.

" Hey you look like crap. I brought you as much as I could think of bringing. Not a lot of places are open at this time." Emma said as she placed the bag in the middle of the bed and went to sit by Regina's feet. She started to unpack the bag so she could explain them to Regina.

" Thank you Emma. Henry you can go to bed now I don't want to make you too tired for school tomorrow." Regina said her throat was even more sore than before.

" I'm fine Mom, I'll go soon" Henry said sitting next to Regina and cuddling into her side. She put her arm around him and rested her head on his. It comforted Regina to see that Henry wanted to make sure she was OK.

A few years ago this might of been a different story but Neverland had changed their once fragile family into a strong unit. Even her and Emma saw each other differently. They didn't see each other as enemy's anymore, they where Henry's mom's first and foremost but also formidable allies in battle. They had discovered a trust that only two people who came from broken homes ,who shared a child could. It wasn't strictly conventional but it worked for them... most of the time.

" I brought something for almost every symptom. I know how crap cold can be and I'm guessing this is your first one and I also think its the flu. Which is a lot worse, being sick is usually the difference between the two, among many other things.I brought cold and flu tablets, throat soothers and vapour rub. There's a few more things you could use and I also brought you some entertainment which I will show you once I get me and Henry a hot chocolate." Emma said. She left the room to go and make drinks for them. She chose to give Regina a ginger based herbal tea to help settle her stomach. She went back up and handed them to the Mother and Son who hadn't moved an inch.

" So I brought you a few magazines, DVD's and my old DS. It has Mario cart in at the moment,I thought you enjoy it." Emma said as Regina picked the DS up and looked at it. Regina had gotten one for Henry one but she never saw the appeal of them.

" Why do you think I'd like it?" Regina ask a little confused.

" Because you have a competitive streak and well it's a racing game" Emma explained. " Give it a go when your headaches better."

"Yes at the moment it feels like someone is repetitively stabbing my brain"Regina complained.

Regina took the medicine's Emma had brought and they finished their drinks. The ginger tea was doing its trick and Regina felt a little better.

" OK off to bed with you boy, it's getting late and you have school" Regina said. Henry kissed her cheek and gave her a squeeze. He slowly rose from the bed. He went to hug Emma but tripped and fell on her legs.

" Night kid" Emma said. She laughed and patted his back. He tried to get up but once again fell this time onto Regina's legs.

"Ouch, your getting bigger" Regina said. Her and Emma laughed when Henry poked his tongue out at her.

"Night Mom's" He said. He kissed Emma's cheek and left the room.

" Is there any place for me to stay so I can get Henry up for school?" Emma asked not wanting to leave Regina to have to do it in the morning.

" Yes the spare room is next door, you can stay there" Regina said. They were both a little uncomfortable. They sat there in silence for a while until Emma stood up and went to leave.

"Good night Regina" Emma said as she stood up.

"Good night Emma, thank you for all of this I would of been lost with out your help today" Regina admitted.

" Stop thanking me I'm family. I've learnt recently it's what we do" Emma said smiling at Regina who smiled back. Emma left the room to go to bed.

" Maybe this won't be so bad after all" Regina said to herself. She got comfortable in her bed and fell once again into sleep.


	3. Soup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> snow brings some soup over for them, the doctor visits

The next day was hectic for Emma. To start off the morning she had to almost had to pull Henry out of bed to wake him up. He was very slow in the mornings. He probably inherited that from Neal because it wasn't from her. Whilst Henry was eating his breakfast, Emma went upstairs to check on Regina. She made her way quietly to Regina's room and cracked the door open enough to see the once Evil Queen comatose on her bed. Emma had never seen her so peaceful before it was hard to imagine this woman killing villages of people. It really wasn't who Regina was now. Regina was wrapped up in her blanket, her legs were sprawled out on the bed her one leg hanging off the edge and her hand lay almost on her bedside table. Those tablets must of worked wonders. Emma quietly left the room knowing how important it was for Regina to rest. She made her way back downstairs expecting Henry to be waiting for her. Instead, She was greeted by Henry asleep on the couch. She shook his shoulders slowly.

" Henry wake up you have school soon," She said knowing it was getting later. Henry's eyes opened slowly. "You OK Kid" Emma said a little worried about the color of his skin. Henry just shook his head and made a beeline for the toilet. Emma rushed after him concerned. As she had thought, he was lent over the toilet being sick. After he had finished Emma helped him to his bed.

"I'm sorry Mom, I didn't mean to get ill. I really didn't think I would. I felt fine yesterday and last night. I got up this morning and felt really ill." He said a little upset because he had missed school like both his Mom's didn't want to happen.

" Kid it's fine I'd rather you told me you felt ill so I didn't drag you out of bed and feed you sugary food. Just rest up I'll go get you some water and crackers.I'd better go tell Regina you're sick too." Emma said not really looking forward to telling the evil queen that her son was sick ... again. These next few days might be hell she thought to herself.

Emma went downstairs and got Henry some water and crackers. She remembered Regina telling her before that she gives them to him to settle his stomach and make it less uncomfortable when it comes back up. She set them next to his bed and went once again to check Regina. When she got into the room Regina was curled up into a ball. Emma could see her eyes were shut like she was trying to concentrate. Before Emma could say something Regina dash out of bed to the toilet and shut the door behind her. Emma heard the sounds and decided she didn't need a visual. She waited until she couldn't hear anything and knocked the door.

"You OK Gina that sounded horrible," Emma said not really sure what to say just waited to check on her.

"Seriously, I just threw up my stomachs contents and maybe my lungs," Regina said a soft tired laugh came through the door. Emma knew her cracking jokes was probably a good sign but she never knew with Regina.

"Do you need anything, clothes, water, your tablets?" Emma asked she'd never had to look after more than one person before and she was starting to wonder if she could handle both Henry and Regina being home ill by herself, she may have to bring in reinforcements. For now, she would try her best and hope it is enough. Regina opened the door slowly. Her face was bright red and she looked like she was going to faint.

"Yes, yes and yes. I feel worse this morning, how? I felt better last night." Regina said a little annoyed she was still ill.

"That's the miracles of modern day medicine, it tricks you into thinking it isn't as bad as it actually is. I think maybe we should call Dr. Whale, just to make sure." Emma said very anxious about how unwell Regina was.

"Maybe you are right most people build up a sort of immunity after a few colds but I've never had one, my antibodies don't know how to deal with it yet," Regina admitted. She wasn't happy she had to see a doctor but it was probably for the best.

"Yes, and well, Henry is ill also. He spent this morning throwing up too and I kept him home. He is in his bed at the moment." Emma confessed knowing that Regina wouldn't like that she couldn't nurse her son.

"Poor boy, I was hoping that wouldn't happen, he only just got over his cold" Regina said a little upset with herself that she made Henry ill.

"It's OK Regina, Kids get sick it happens. I'll look after the both of you. I'm just going to go get you some crackers. It's best to have at least that in your stomach. Trust me it's better that way." Emma said. She hadn't personally had a sickness bug in ages. The last one she remembered was when she was a teenager.

" Could you bring me some ginger tea also, it helped a lot yesterday," Regina said hoping it would do it's trick again because her stomach muscles were starting to hurt.

" Yes of course, but first I'll bring you some comfy clothes and get you back to bed. Where do you keep them" Emma asked, not really accustomed to where Regina kept things in her bedroom.

" In the top drawer in the left corner." Regina's groaned as she lay down on the cold tile remembering how nice it felt last night. This time her clothes were thinner so it helped to cool her down more. Emma brought clothes over and lay them on Regina who was still lay down.

" Give me a minute," Regina asked her head was spinning and she still wasn't convinced it was safe to leave the bathroom.

"Sure thing. I'll go make your tea and Henry as well. I'll fetch you some crackers." Emma said she left Regina on the floor of the bathroom because she saw the relief on Regina's face when the cool tile had hit her back. She made her way downstairs and made them all drinks ginger tea for Regina and Henry and a coffee for herself. She grabbed the crackers and a Poptart for herself because she hadn't eaten yet and some medicine for Henry which Regina had plenty of. She made her way back upstairs. When she entered Regina's room she saw that Henry had come in to snuggle up to his Mom. It was kind of adorable to see the two of them that way. They both were awake but they weren't talking. Henry had gotten back into his PJ's and Regina was taking her medicine.

" Hey kid feel any better?" Emma said as she gave them their drink.

" Thank's Mom. Not really My stomach doesn't feel as bad but I don't want to move again for a while." Henry said clearly more affected by his walk to Regina's bedroom than he had expected. His face was as white as a sheet and Emma was becoming a little concerned.

" Ok, I'm going to call the Doctor to see the two of you. He might know how to make this a bit easier." Emma said she took her phone out and went into the hallway to talk.

" Hey it's Emma I was just wondering if you could send Dr. Whale over to see Regina and Henry they caught the flu or something but I think someone needs to come over to check on Regina. She's never been ill before and I don't know how bad it is." Emma said. She knew Regina was alright at the moment but she had a high temperature and that could go bad fast. Emma wasn't prepared for that. When Whale had told her he was on his way she went back into Regina's room. Henry was showing Regina how to play Mario Kart. She looked funny, she was holding the DS like it was a magical object. Unsure of what to do. Henry demonstrated how to play and after a while, she got the hang of it.She actually got pretty good at it to Emma's surprise.

Half an hour later the doctor knocked the door. It wasn't a surprise to find Mary Margret and David at the door also. Mary Margaret was carrying soup. She handed the warm Tupperware box full of fresh tomato soup to Emma.

"This is for Regina and Henry but there is plenty in case you want some. David and I wanted to visit in case you needed anything and to see if you guys were ok" Snow said as she and David walked in. Behind them was Dr. Whale. He was holding his bag which contained the equipment. Emma walked Dr. Whale upstairs and left Mary Margret to sort the soup out.

" how often have they been sick?" Dr. Whale asked as they walked into the room.

" Regina was sick last night before I came and this morning and Henry was sick just before we were going to head to school," Emma told him. He nodded.

" How is their temperature?" He asked.

" Regina's must be high, I don't think Henry's is as bad. His body knows how to deal with it better. Regina I think must have a fever because she has been sweating a lot on and off all night. I gave them crackers and Ginger tea to settle the sickness but I'm at a loss with the rest" Emma admitted. The doctor nodded and went into the room. Emma left him to it and went downstairs to see her parents.

" Hey sorry I didn't call you guys I completely forgot. Regina called late last night and well I said I'd look after her. She is family after all" Emma said sighing as she sat down. She was tired from the night before she hadn't gotten to sleep until three in the morning and had to be up at eight to get Henry up. Although it wouldn't usually affect her, Her late night had gotten to her.

" Honey you need to sleep before your no use to them. We don't want you passing out from exhortation." Mary Margret advised when saw how Emma could barely keep her eyes open. " Your Father and I hold down the fort for now."

" Ok, your right I need sleep I'm so tired I could sleep right here," Emma said her eyes beginning to get heavy, she let out a yawn.

"Come on to bed with you. I'll go take the soup up when Dr whale is done and any information he gives me I'll tell you when you are awake." Mary Margret said. Emma nodded and hugged her mom grateful for her help. She shuffled to the spare room where as soon as her head hit the pillow she fell asleep.

Regina lay still as the doctor examined her. He checked them over for what to Regina seemed like forever. She was towards the end holding back from telling him

"Regin your fever isn't extremely high but I want you to make sure you look after yourself and tell Emma if you feel faint, dizzy or like it's becoming too much. It's important you keep her updated in case it gets worse. Henry, you should be ok I think it's just a sickness bug." reported back to them at the end of the check.

" Ok, Thank you, Doctor. Emma is doing great so far. I'll think everything will be ok." Regina said.

" Sure, ok Bye Regina, rest and drink plenty fluid's" He advised before he left the room. By this point, Henry had fallen asleep with his head on Regina's shoulder. Regina felt her eyes closing slowly only to be awakened by Snow bringing them soup. Although she was grateful she was a little pissed she couldn't get another hour of sleep.

" Snow what a surprise you are here," Regina said confused as to why Snow would bring her soup. She expected some for Henry but never has Snow offered to help her like this before. Regina was slowly beginning to feel a part of a loving, caring family and that made her feel like she belonged there and also made her feel warm inside knowing finally she had people around her who knew who she really was.


	4. Damn Hogwarts Glass!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry falls...

Snow and Charming left not long after the Doctor did. The soup was surprisingly tasty and Regina actually managed to keep it down. Henry, still feeling nauseous, decided against eating for a while. Regina was feeling a little better after being able to keep her food down and also her headache had lessened. She wasn't sure if it was the medicine helping her or just the flu finally giving up.

Regina slowly got out of bed thinking it might be a good time to have a bath. She gathered some clothes and bathroom essentials. She ran the water to the right level and temperature and slowly lowered herself in. It instantly made her feel a little stronger. She lay still for a few minutes letting her body relax. She couldn't help but appreciate the people who had been helping her mostly Emma and Henry but Snow bringing soup over. Maybe, just maybe she and Mary Margaret might have a chance of being friends again.

She was still a little peeved at Snows happy go lucky attitude. It was nothing to do with her never-ending mission to constantly do the right thing, it was the fact that she always so pushy and touchy with Regina. Just the week before she had made a subtle joke around her and Charming about swords. OK, maybe it wasn't about swords and maybe it wasn't so subtle, but still, Snow had defiantly overreacted by lecturing her about appropriate jokes in front of polite company and embarrassing her in front of Emma who made fun of her for days after. Regina was used to laughing with Emma who had the same appreciation for a good joke, to be honest, she had forgotten they were even there.

Something Regina hadn't expected from herself, was to let that piece of her be discovered by Emma. The part of her that her mother had called it vulgar language and told her no man would want a woman who made such crude jokes. Emma hadn't cared though at one of their late night of drinking wine and conversation Emma was telling Regina about a man she had dated once back in Boston.

She had talked about the fact that he was really rude and didn't even buy her a drink. She even ended up having to pay for the meal after. They guy had still persisted to follow Emma home. Obviously hoping to be invited in. Emma told Regina the entire way home she had been planning to say something to him when she got back. As she had reached her destination he had grabbed her. It hadn't been polite or ladylike but Emma made her feeling perfectly clear to the man, to quote the moment " You really think, after this piss-take of a date, that I'm letting you anywhere near me or my house. You spent more time itching your nut sack and grunting at your phone, than actually trying to talk to me. Take one more step towards me and I can guarantee you'll regret it." But the Man persisted.

Grabbing Emma at the waist and viciously pulling her towards him. Emma felt something on her thigh, she needed to react. She very precisely and brutally punched him where it counted. He balled over onto the pavement, coughing and spluttering, trying to get his breath back. He was angry and his face was a bright red by the time he got his composure back. He grabbed her ankle and yanked her almost pulling her over before Emma kicked him so he was laying on his back on the floor. She pressed her shoe into his chest. " Now I can call the police and get this sorted out right now or I could show you what it feels like to be stared and gawked at. I think option two is sounding a whole lot better to me, what about you? " Emma nodded wanting a reply from the man but instead she got spat at. She dove towards him and grabbing him by his collar and pulled him from the floor. " Ok I gave you your options and it looks like you've chosen." Emma yanked him to the nearest thing she could tie him too. Which happened to be a bike rack. She used the handcuffs, which she kept on her at all times, to stop him from running away. As a bails bond person, handcuff become quite a handy tool. But in this situation, they were the only thing she needed.

She made sure he was secure and began her task of humiliating the despicable creature in front of her. She started by taking most of his clothes off, leaving him in a tie, underwear, and socks. He had screamed for someone to help him. No one did for quite a while. He was still stuck there when Emma left for work in the morning. He had clearly said a few things to people walking past because he was covered in rubbish and sticky coffee. He also smelt like he pissed himself at some point. She would feel sorry for him if she hadn't of heard him that morning shouting at a young mother walking her kids to school.

Emma called the police as she got into her car that morning. He was gone by the time she got back and she had, later on, heard he was also done for assaulting a police officer and they had also discovered he had been running away from previous charges of domestic violence. " All in all, a productive date" Emma had finished her story.

Regina couldn't help but crack up a little. The image of Emma yanking around some horrible man and humiliating him was one thing; to have actually accidentally caught such a vile criminal was so Emma. Regina could picture her making the statement at the police station. " He groped me so I put him on his ass and made him stay put until you guys turned up. He's naked because it's funny and he needed to learn a lesson about how to treat a woman."

The bath had made Regina a little light headed. She wasn't sure why but she was sure it would be fine because she was beginning to feel better. Her stomach had calmed and her headache just a dull throbbing. Her body, however, ached all over. The bath was relieving that some but she still felt weak. She just decided to sit there a while.

Henry woke a little after Regina did. He still felt rough but he wanted water. He got out of bed slowly and made his way carefully downstairs. He walked like a zombie to the kitchen. He grabbed a chair so he could reach the glasses off the top shelf. Usually, his mom would get them down from him. But this trick worked when he had been home alone and wanted to make a secret Milkshake. Today the chair felt wobbly or was he wobbly. His legs shook and he slowly went on his tiptoes to reach his Favourite glass with a picture of Hogwarts logo on the side. His mom used to read them to him before he realised who she was. He never did get to read the last book. With everything going on he never remembered to ask Regina about it. Maybe he could find it and read it to her. Then they could get around to watching the films. Regina always made a point of making him read the books before he watched the film. He spent a month constantly reading lord of the rings so he could finally watch the film. That why he enjoyed it when a film came out that wasn't a book first. Star Wars was a particular favourite of his. He and Emma had binge-watched them together one week.

He had almost reached it when Emma started him by entering the room. He let out a small scream and fell backward. Emma ran towards him hoping to catch him narrowly missing him by an inch. He hit the floor with a hard bang, his head making contacted with the floor.

" Shit Henry, Oh crap. Henry?" Emma shouted. She didn't touch him in case he hurt his back. She was panicking more than she ever had before. Why hadn't he just asked her to get the glass? He was too sick to be climbing on chairs. She couldn't worry about that now she needed to get help. She pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed for the ambulance. She tried her best to explain everything. Henry was starting to come too. Emma noticed and quickly but softly put her hand on his chest to make him stay still.

"Don't move Henry you've just fallen and hit your head, it's very important that you don't move," Emma said tears threatening to fall, she kept herself in check for Henry.

" OK Mom," He said in a weak voice, He gasped in pain tear falling from his eyes but he stayed still. Emma still couldn't believe he could be so brave.

"I've called an ambulance their on there way. I need to leave you for two seconds. Regina needs to know whats going on." Emma said she stroked his hair lightly and kissed his forehead. She stood up and quickly climbed the stairs to Regina's room. She knocked on the door no reply. She could smell lavender and honey. It lingered in the air. There was usually a light hint of it when Regina was around but this was strong. Regina had clearly decided to have a wash. She knocked on the bathroom door. No answer. She tried again. Nothing.

"Oh great this is going to be awkward," Emma said realizing her only option. She tried the door nob. Of course, it was locked. There was only one thing for it. She took a run up an barged into the door. Luckily enough it swung open not breaking anything just pulling the lock of the door frame. Regina had fallen asleep in the bath. The bath was covered in bubbled and was still steaming a little. She knew this meant that it hadn't been long since Regina had gotten in. She walked over to her slowly and grabbed her shoulders. With a start, Regina woke up.

"Blaa" She jumped." Ow, what are you doing in here, get out." Regina said trying to make sure that she was covered.

"Oh get over it were both women." Emma said, " It's not like I haven't had to deal with worse situations." Regina looked a little angry.

"Well, I would rather you not break into my bathroom whilst I'm in the bath," Regina said fuming but not really having the energy to fight.

"That doesn't matter Henry just fell off a chair downstairs and knocked himself unconscious. He's awake now but I told him not to move the medics are on their way but I can't go without you. I'm crap at hospitals and kids" Emma said sadly. She passed Regina a towel quickly. Regina tried her best to stand up but couldn't gather the strength to stand up. Emma could see that she was struggling.

"Do you need help?" Emma asked not knowing what to do because it was Regina. Anyone else maybe but it seemed like crossing a line and she wasn't sure what would happen. Regina didn't answer she just continued to struggle. Realising it was useless she gave a weak nod. Emma walked cautiously over to her.

"OK, I'm going to grab under your arms and pull you out. you need to help as much as you can." Emma said. She pulled her sleeves up on her shirt and stood behind Regina. She hooked her arms underneath the brunettes. She began to pull her up. Regina used all of her strength to lift her legs ungracefully out of the bath at this point Emma had closed her eyes not wanting to make her friend feel awkward. Regina was struggling to get out because Emma couldn't see what was going on. There was only one thing for it.

"Ok, Swan you can open your eyes but not a word at least until I'm dressed," Regina said her voice a little shaky. Emma did as she was told. She was able to help Regina into a towel and put her on the toilet seat for a breather.

"Can you dress your fine self?" Emma said winking at her. Regina frowned and threw a roll of tissue at her.

"Out now Swan!" Regina said, she couldn't help but giggle a little at Emma, who tipped a little diving out of the way of the toilet roll.

"So rude," Emma said. Leaving the room and shutting the door behind her. She quickly went back downstairs to Henry. She lay a blanket over him and kept him calm. She heard the sirens a few minutes before the knock at the door. She was already there to answer it. "He's in the kitchen, I made sure he didn't move. His mom will be down in a second." She informed them. They went to look after him. Emma tried to follow but was stopped by a police officer who started to talk to Emma.

" Stay here Madam, Who are you then, and what happened?" asked a young scruffy looking man with an untrimmed beard and tired eyes. His voice was gruff, unwavering and professional.

"I'm his mom, I was looking after him whilst his other mom was getting better. She caught the flu and he must have gotten it from her" Emma said not thinking about how that might confuse them so used to people getting it by now.

"Ok, so you don't live together?" He said perplexed by her words.

"Oh, no we're not together, he lives mostly with his other adopted mom. I'm the birth mother." She said realizing her mistake. At this point, Regina appeared at the top of the steps. She looked tired and a little wobbly.

"Stay there Regina, I'll help you down the stairs," Emma said concerned she ran up the steps.

" I can do it my self-thank you" Regina insisted. Emma still put her arm around Regina's shoulders and helped her to descend the stairs slowly. Regina realized half way down she might have needed help her legs were feeling heavy already. They finally reach the bottom where the officer was still waiting. Somehow even though she was sick Regina managed to look put together. Regina's make up was flawless, her shirt was not even a little creased and her jeans looked brand new and well fitting. Emma didn't know Regina had clothes like those. Perhaps its what she wears when she's at home if her everyday outfits where anything to go by.

She had decided to go for a more casual footwear and picked up her white converse. She looked more normal and less evil queen in these clothes. Emma couldn't help realize how nice it was to see Regina let go a little, it suited her.

Henry was being carried through the hallway on a stretcher. He looked a little panicked and reached out for Regina as the walked past. Regina walked by his side all the way to the Ambulance and sat next to him the whole time whispering to him and stroking his hair lightly because it calmed him. Emma went to her bug and drove behind them. Only one other person could go in the van and Emma didn't want Regina to drive plus she Knew how to soothe Henry when he was in pain. Like she had said before "I've changed every diaper, soothed every fever, endured every tantrum." Regina was entailed to go with him in the Ambulance.

They arrived at the ambulance where Henry was rushed in. Regina was helped out of the van by another medic. Emma ran over to her.

"What happened, what did they say?" Emma asked. She helped Regina walk into the Hospital. The other paramedic rushed off to help. It was slow going but they made it to the right waiting room after Getting lost a few times. Regina was tired now and heavy fell into a sofa, there wasn't many people sat in the room so they had three seats to themselves. Regina decided they were all hers and lay down. Emma was tired also but knew she had to stay awake. She went to fetch some coffee, snacks and a few pills for Regina to take. Thankfully Regina had brought tissues and throat sweets. She still had a huge coughing fit and her face had gone red with embarrassment. Everyone made sure to stay clear of her even Doctors keeping them updated. Emma didn't care though her immune system was strong. A cold wasn't anything she couldn't handle. After a while, Regina fell asleep. Her head was on Emma's lap which meant that Emma couldn't move much. She didn't mind though she kind of like it. In a weird way, it was nice. Regina wiggled a little and a hand came to rest on her head. Emma rolled up her jumper for Regina to use as a pillow and also spread the blanket Henry had been using before the doctors gave it to Emma before they took him into a room.

Regina was asleep for a while. Like when Henry did the same thing she started to play with her hair not realizing what she was going as she looked at the people around her. Regina groaned and moved a little before sighing. Emma couldn't see the evil queen anymore. Just her sick friend who even though was spewing her gut up before now looked peaceful and kind of beautiful. This shocked Emma, She had never thought of Regina as beautiful before. not in this was anyway. She, of course, noticed if she was wearing something particularly flattering, often making the odd remark to make Regina uncomfortable. She didn't know why but she all of a sudden noticed Regina, She saw the woman who had fought for her happy ending. She might have gone a bit of the rail's at some point but she built herself back up stronger than ever. It was strange to witness such a transformation. Year by herself alone with her son had softened Regina a little and years of trying to fight alongside them for her own happiness had made her break a little of her reserve. However this new thing between them, it was new for Regina and Emma's friendship. She was starting to trust Emma. She was letting someone else look after her for once and not fighting it that hard.

A few hours passed and Emma had to fallen asleep waiting for the Doctors report. They woke up around seven. Emma was the first to wake, A old man had been wheeled in and he was making quite a bit of noise. She couldn't understand any of it but it was loud enough to wake Regina also who was confused as to how she had been asleep for so long. Emma's hand was still resting on her head. It felt strangely pleasant so she didn't mention it, they just stayed like that for a while. Emma started to play with Regina's hair once more. A little started by this not expecting this kind of intimacy with Emma. She sat up.

"Sorry habit," Emma said her cheeks blushing a little.

"It's fine I'm just not great at that kind of stuff you know. Touching." Regina admitted. It was true she never was one to hug someone. Until Henry came along Daniel had been the last person she had shown real affection too. Regina noticed the look on Emma's face it was sad and a little guilty.

"This is my fault you know, if I just stayed up after the doctor came over he would have asked me. I fell asleep longer than I wanted. I messed up again, I'm sorry Regina. I'm kind of useless at this stuff." Emma said her voice a little choked up. Clearly, she was blaming herself for Henry being hurt. All though a few years ago Regina may have Agreed with her. She knew Emma better than that and knew that it couldn't have been helped. She lay her hand on top of Emma's.

" It's ok Dear, I know you were tired no one can blame you for sleeping. Henry is a young boy he's bound to end up here a few times. I just want to know whats going on" Regina admitted stroking small circles on the back of Emma's hand with her thumb. In one sudden movement, Emma flicked her wrist so they were holding hands.

"Thank you, Regina, I guess you are right, I just hope Henry is OK, the Poorboy spent his morning being sick and now he's here," Emma said. She liked the comfort of Regina's hand in hers. I felt like it was keeping her grounded. If it wasn't for Regina she would be really panicking by now and would probably be kicked out the hospital. It was Regina's presence next to her keeping her calm. She knew when it came to Henry's well being Regina was on top of it.

At eight 0' clock that night a middle-aged man with short neat grey hair came up to them.

" Hello, Miss Swan and Miss Mills. Your son is looking a lot better. He broke his Arm and did minor damage to his spine and ribs. He will have trouble for a couple of weeks getting about. When he hit the floor his head got quite a hit. It's not Bad but you should know that it could turn quickly in these situations. We have him stable at the moment. We have reset the bones and made sure he is comfortable. We will be keeping him under observation until he's given the all clear. If you like you can go see him he's just woken up." Th kind doctor said. He kept glancing at them like something about them confused him. He shook his head and signaled them to follow him to Henry's room. Regina was the first to rush in. imminently sitting next to him on the bed. She grabbed the hand that didn't have a tube in it.

"Oh love, look at you, from now on until you are tall enough, you have to get me and Emma to help you with the top shelf." She said tears running down her face from seeing Henry so banged up and vulnerable. Emma was having a hard time holding it in. She closed the door as she entered the room to give them privacy. She walked up to where Regina was sat and lay a hand on her shoulder. and rubbed small circles to try and soothe her. It worked slightly. Regina looked up at her. Her eyes red and puffy tears staining her cheeks. Without thinking about it Emma wiped Regina's cheek with her thumb. They stared into each other's eyes.

"Mom's?" Henry said breaking the silence. the quickly look away from each other as though being caught doing something the shouldn't have been doing. the both looked at Henry. "Everything OK?" He asked a little scared not really sure what was happening to him. Regina smiled sweetly at him. She placed a hand on his and brushed his hair back with her other hand.

"Henry you broke your arm and did some damage to your back and head. You have to stay here until they say you can go, don't worry honey we will be here for you." She cupped his face with her hand. She had sat with him in the van and comforted him but she felt like she had needed Emma there with her to help her stay calm. It had been hell she had almost burst into tears a few times. She still felt dizzy and it was starting to get worse. She could feel a headache coming. He face went pale. Emma knew what was going to happen and brought her a bowl from beside Henry's bed, Mean for him and his concussion but his mom seemed to need it more.

"You lie down next to Henry, I'm going to go find someone and ask a few questions," Emma said and walked out the room. Regina wiggled her way next to Henry who was happy to be cuddled softly by his mum. She didn't press hard in case it hurt him.

"Mom, what happened to you and Emma you seem different with each other? You don't usually like people touching you without permission. You didn't even flinch when Emma put her hand on your shoulder." Henry said having obviously noticed His mother's weird moment.

"I'm not sure honey, It's probably nothing just us worrying about you and keeping each other strong I guess," Regina said not entirely sure what to say to her son who stared at her with Emma's eyes. He nodded understanding a little. Emma arrived a moment later with a nurse by her side. Emma let the woman into the room and entered behind her.

"Miss Mill's, Miss swan tells me you have the flu, Usually we don't let people visit who have a virus but considering Henry is already in the decontamination rooms because of his sickness bug. It's should be OK. Now I have another nurse rolling a bed to put next to Henry's so you can stay with him. I'm sorry Miss Swan we can not do the same for you because your not ill but you are welcome to stay on the small sofa or even share if you'd like with Henry and Miss Mill's. Emma nodded.

"OK I'm going to do a check up on both of you OK, First Henry then You Miss Mill's," The nurse said to Henry and Regina who nodded. She went through her routine and fifteen minute later was down with them both.

"OK so you both have the flu, Regina yours is a little worse than Henry's because for some reason your body seems to be fighting it off slower than usual. Henry's should be gone in a few days. Regina, I think you should take it easy and see a doctor if anything else occurs, for now, whilst you are here I'll give you some tablets to settle the symptoms." She handed them to Regina. "Take two every four hours. Keep hydrated and stay away from anything that might make you tired." She advised. She left the room to continue the rounds that Emma had interrupted.

"I took a while to find someone but that woman was the only one willing to help even though she looked like she was doing work, the other nurses were lolling about in their uniforms not doing anything but telling me they are too busy," Emma said looking a little peeved. "You think if you trained that long to be a nurse you'd want the job right, nope I don't think so lazy bitches... Oh sorry, Henry, mind my language" She said Regina was giving her the look. " It's true though, they were crap. ten different nurses all just standing there the only walking past with looking busy it the one who helps me, come on you'd swear too." Emma said.

"Maybe yes but not in front of my son," Regina said a little appealed at the blonds language.

" our son?" Emma corrected.

"He can be our son if you don't swear in front of him until he is old enough to drink alcohol," Regina said standing ground not entirely serious but managing to keep her face straight to answer Emma.

"Sure sure, that a deal" Emma swore to Regina. She plonked her self at the foot of the bed. Later on, a Lanky male nurse drove an extra bed in for Regina the put it as close to Henry's as they could. She didn't need any machines to help her so Emma felt more comfortable sitting next to her. She was terrified of pulling one of Henry's tubes out by accident and hurting him. Henry fell asleep after Emma had read Robin Hood to him. She knew that even though Regina was pretending not to pay attention she was. The brunette couldn't help but admire the connection Emma had with Henry. They had so much fun together. Emma was the first person Henry mentioned when he got a new toy. She was the fun mom. Regina was stuck being the boring mom. This put a frown on her face. After Henry dossed off Emma confronted Regina about why she looked so sad.

"He will never love me as much as he loves you. You have fun with him and make him laugh, I kill his fun and tell him what to do. He will never love me the same as he loves you. I think I need to come to terms with that fact" Regina said tears pricking at her eyes.

"Are you crazy Regina, you're his mother, you clean his wounds, and looked him when he couldn't himself. Stay awake for hours at a time to feed him or make sure he was ok. You're his mom Regina. I'm just a lucky he had you because I'm not sure where he would be now if you didn't. I grew up in a world where rules were meant to be broken. Everyone around me was making me realize life shouldn't be taken seriously otherwise you will break down and to put yourself back together is the hardest job" Emma admitted.

She was always feeling guilty for not being there for Regina and Henry. She knew she couldn't look after him, But why hadn't she wanted to know him. Perhaps it was guilt or maybe at the time she fell worthless like she didn't deserve him. she felt like that a few time since she arrived at Storybrooke. Watching Regina care for her son had taught her a lot. She thanked Regina for this. She needed to soon.


	5. Again!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone's messed with the town line.

They had spent a while waiting for Henry to able come home. It had been a week since the accident and he was finally able to move about more. The three of them had stayed at the Hospital. Emma had been asked a few times to leave. So she would and after picking up a few bits and pieces to occupy them would sneak back in at night, having made friend with a few of the staff, it was easy. She just had to stay clear of some of the older more strict staff members. She would always be back by the time everyone one else had been put to bed baring magazines and puzzle books. She even went to get her's and Henry's and bought Regina a red one of her own and a few games and books. Emma even managed to find the last Harry Potter book and Henry read it to them. A few chapters a day.They spent rest of the day's there playing games and talking. Emma would nip out to get them food and they would feast then sleep. Soon enough it was time to leave. Regina was a lot better and the only sign she had the flu was a sore thought and a cough. The left the Hospital not knowing what it was going to be like for them when they got home. They all had an idea in mind though. They all wanted to watch Harry Potter.

When they arrived home they had only just through the door when someone knocked it. Emma opened it. Snow was stood there with more food and a load of junk food.

"Henry text and said he wanted to borrow the Harry Potter series. Then he invited David and me over but David couldn't make it, Sheriff business he said. Someone did something or other. I don't really know he was in a rush. I think he's ok... oh god I hope he's ok," Mary Margret said as she started to panic. Emma put both of her hands on her Mum shoulders,

"He's fine, He does this all the time," Emma said trying to calm her. It worked, Snow nodded and walked to the living-room. It then occurred to Emma that Regina may not know she was here. She probably won't be too happy about it. Emma sighed. Well, it's happening may as well have fun.

She walked into the living room and was greeted by a happy Henry and an awkward Regina trying her hardest to talk to Snow. It lasted a little while longer whilst Emma put the first disc in. The movie started. Henry was hooked from the start, Halfway through there was a knock on the door. Regina went to go answer it. She opened it revealing David stood behind it. He pushed through.

"We need to speak where Snow and Emma?" He said looking baffled.

"Calm down Charming. They are in the Living room whats going on?" Regina asked wondering what possibly could be happening now. She followed him to the two woman who was still engrossed in the film.

" Snow, Emma could I talk to you and Regina in the kitchen please?" He asked a little on edge.

They both got up and they all followed him to the kitchen.  
"Look I don't know how to say this but we have been trapped in Storybrooke again." He said knowing that it probably wouldn't shock them as much as irritate them. Why couldn't people just chill out and maybe talk it out with Archie instead of creating drama?

"So what is it this time, glass bowl, laser beams?" Snow asked.

"Oh I know what about the slice and dice from Resident evil," Regina said more excited than she should be by the prospect.

"Um no Regina, we talked about this, its all fun and games when its a movie but in real life its murder... remember," Emma said sarcastically

"Oh shut it, Swan, I'm just joking I don't picture doing that ... anymore" She said with a playful evil smirk on her face and left it at that at before Snow intervened.

" Seriously you two, a time like this and your making jokes?" Mary Margret exclaimed. Her face held an angry expression. Regina and Emma both looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

" Look, Mum, it's not like this is anything new. It's been happening since I got here." Emma said not phased but a little pissed about being trapped again.

" What is it this time or are you waiting for one of us two to sort it out?" Regina asked also annoyed they couldn't just stay and watch films with Henry.

"Ummm it's like umm..." David said trying to come up with something to describe what had happened.

"Great work David," Regina said sarcastically patting him hard on the back. "Come on Swan your with me, we are taking my car," She said as she walked past everyone grabbing her coat and keys.

The got into Regina's Mercedes. Regina started the car in silence. It had been a while since they had been completely alone together and no one knew what to say. They drove a little before Emma broke the silence.

" So are you feeling better?" Emma said she couldn't think of something that would break the tension.

" I'm feeling much better, Thank you for looking after me Emma," Regina said. She was trying to keep up a front but it fell away when she thanked the blond woman. Her being ill had shown her Emma in a different light. She wasn't her usual annoying self. Instead, she was caring and patient. Regina hadn't expected that from her. She always thought of Emma as someone who rushed everything. She liked to be kept on her toes. It was strange to see her being so domestic with her and Henry. She was grateful for Emma's help last month. They carried on chatting about different things on the way to the storybook sign. The stopped the car just before they reached the town line.

" So what first on our town saving agenda?" Emma asked. Regina rolled her eyes and got out her car. Emma followed her. She walked closer to the line. She grabbed a rock and threw it over the line. It went over like it would if there was nothing there.

" Next suggestions?" Regina asked. Emma looked hard at the line.

" We send something living over. Not a person but a bird or something." Emma said. still looking hard at the line then glancing at Regina to see her reaction.

"Sure ok, I will wait here while you catch a fox," Regina said going back to her car and sitting on the bonnet. Emma just stared at her a while and then nodded.

"Great" Emma said she sighed before she walked into the woods nearby. Ten minutes later after failing to catch a small rodent Emma sat on the floor. She didn't have much experience hunting and to be honest she had caught the rat and then freaked out and dropped it. She huffed not sure what to do she sat on a nearby rock. She didn't know how long she had been trying to catch something but it must have been a while because Regina appeared in front of her.

"What the Hell swan I'm sat out here in the freezing cold for you to be sat on a rock! Regina said punctuating the last four words. Emma looked at her. She was kind of pissed off that as the Saviour she couldn't even catch a rabbit.

" I suck, I couldn't even hold a rat, it was gross, who likes them anyway," Emma said she was frowning and acting childish but to be honest she was freezing too and she didn't know what to do. They couldn't go back now.

" Seriously Swan, you are old enough to know that this is pathetic. Stand up now!" Regina shouted at the blond. Emma glared at her and raised an eyebrow. She started got to her feet clumsily. She wobbled as she stretched her freezing muscles.

" Ah, it so cold!" Emma said jogging the spot. Regina looked at her like she was a child misbehaving.

"I guess I'm catching something then," Regina said. She marched off into the woods. She hadn't gotten far when Emma caught up with her.

"You shouldn't wander off without me, could be dangerous! Emma said trying to catch her breath. She stopped for a few seconds then walked by Regina's side who stayed quiet.

" I can handle myself, Sheriff, now if you don't shut up we will never catch anything!" Regina said in a quite but irritated voice. Emma was quiet for a while. Regina walked ahead stopping now and again to look around. After a while, they came across a field with a few rabbits in. Regina held her hand out to stop Emma from following her,

"Wait. Sit here, I need to concentrate I haven't done this since I was young. Mother didn't agree with little girls who got their clothes dirty." Regina said quietly. Emma just nodded looking across the field before taking a seat in the slightly overgrown fresh grass. She watched as Regina took her shoe off. The Queen slowly suck towards a hedge that seems to have the most available targets. Regina positioned herself so they couldn't smell her. She waited and waited. Emma got bored after ten minutes and started to play candy crush.

After a few more minutes there was movement in one of the rabbit holes. Regina waited until the rabbit had left the hole then quickly grabbed it making sure she held on tight. It jumped around in her hands. Regina wrapped it in her jacket and held it tight. She approached Emma who hadn't even looked up from her phone. Regina kicked the blond shoe lightly.

" Come on swan we can go now," Regina said. Emma continued to stare at her game. Regina raised an eyebrow at the younger girls ignorance. She fake coughed. Nothing.

"Emma...Emma... Swan..." Regina said still trying to pry the woman's attention away from the phone. "Seriously." Regina bent in close to Emma's ear. "EMMA!" Regina shouted. Emma dropped her phone and surprise attacked Regina to the floor. Luckily Regina kept a firm grip on the now panicking rabbit.

"What the hell Swan!" Regina said trying to stand up without dropping the Rabbit.

"Oh sorry reflex," Emma said holding her hand out to help the Queen off the floor. When they were both on their feet they headed back to the town line. It was starting to get dark so they had to move quickly. Regina teleported them to the town line.

" Ok so the plan, we release the rabbit over the line and see what happens," Regina said walking to the line and taking the rabbit out from its hiding place in her jacket. she set it on the floor facing the town line.

Happy to be free again it jumped quickly away. As soon as it hit the line, orange smoke surrounded it. It transformed into a dove and flying off.

"Soo we get turned into birds?" Emma asked confused still.

"I guess?" Regina said just as unsure." The real question is who put the forcefield up. The magic feels familiar to me I don't know why. I haven't come across anything like this before" she kept staring at it hoping she could figure it out but nothing came to her.

"Ok, so let's get to work on finding out who put it up. The towns gonna be pissed they can't get out again" Emma said she started to make her way to the car. Regina hadn't heard her because she was lost in thought. Emma made it to the car. Regina was still stood away with the fairies.

"REGINA, GET A MOVE ON I'M COLD!" Emma shouted as loud as she could. Regina jumped a little and looked at an Emma. At first, she looked a little worried but when her eyes hit Emmas it changed to irritated. She walked back to the car and got in. Emma loudly got in making a big to-do of it. Regina looked at her.

"Seriously?" Regina said still annoyed with the blond. Emma just smiled at her whilst shivering. Regina turned the heating on in the car.

"Thanks, I can't believe you caught that rabbit without using magic. " Emma said trying to use the small vents to warm her hands up. Regina stayed silent. When Emma finally warmed up she realized how quiet the women next to her was. Usually, she would make some sarcastic remark or at least said something.

"Regina?" Emma said concerned a little about her friend. She placed her hand on Regina's arm." You ok?". Regina looked at Emma and then at Emma's hand. She placed her own over Emma's.

"I'm fine dear, Just confused and a little hungry. Want to stop at Granny's on the way back?" Regina asked not in the mood for cooking.

"Sure?" Emma said drawing out the word. The rest of the ride would have been silent if Emma hadn't put the radio on in hopes of freeing the tension in the car. The first song to play was 'Warrior' by Demi Lovato. Emma turned it up. She remembered hearing it once or twice and liked it. Instead of singing along like she would usually she just listened. She hadn't think Regina had been paying attention until after the song finished and the radio presenters took over.

" That song lyrics where very ... inspirational" Regina admitted in a quiet voice. Emma just nodded not wanting to interrupt the brunette. " I especially like the chorus" Regina said in a soft lost voice.

" Yeah so did I! It's a good song for that," Emma said. She looked at Regina who was still driving, they had almost reached the town by now, her face had softened a little. The disorientated look had disappeared and was replaced by a calmness. She didn't realize how long she had been staring at Regina until Regina had noticed how long Emma had been staring at her. She was getting uncomfortable under the blond's gaze.

"Emma, why are you staring at me? It's a very unsettling" Regina said unable to stay quiet about the subject any longer. Emma jumped lightly and then sat in her seat. She was quite a moment.

" I was just thinking how much nicer it was when you were ill," Emma said so out of it that she didn't realize what she said.

" Oh thanks, " Regina said hurt. Emma woke up a little and thought back.

"Oh no sorry not that I want you ill, it was just nice being with you and Henry. Like a family, you know. " Emma said rewording her last sentence.

"Oh, well yes it was quite pleasant. You could come around more often if you would like. I know Henry would like it" Regina said hoping the blond would accept her open invitation.

"That sound like it could be fine, Henry would be over the moon, I'm sure we can think of something," Emma said a small smile on her face.

They got to Grannys and walked into the building. Granny was at the counter talking to Archie. It was a quiet evening so there were only a few people there. Emma and Regina took seats at the bar.

" What would you like?" Granny asked them. Emma looked at Regina to order first.

"I'll have a chicken salad and a cup of coffee," She said and smiled slightly at the woman. She was still a little nervous around some of the Storybrooke residents.

"Sure thing, Love," Granny said smiling reassuringly at Regina. " What about you Emma?" Granny asked the blond.

"Umm cheeseburger with fries and um... I'll have a beer" Emma said, wanting to drink something a little harder than hot chocolate."

"Oh, actually could you change my coffee to a glass of wine please Mrs.Lucas?" Regina asked. The old lady nodded with a smiled and dotted their order down. She fetched them their drinks and left to clean the tables which were all now empty.

"Oh crap look how late it is. Henry isn't going to be happy with us." Emma said only just noticing it was almost ten.

" I'll just check up on him now," Regina said and pulled out her phone and dialing for Henry.

"Hey Mom," He said sounding a little tired.

"Oh, sorry sweetheart did I wake you? I just wanted to call to say me and Emma are just running late. I just call to check on you" Regina said to her son who yawned down the phone.

"Mom it's fine I'm glad you called. I was getting worried but Grandma said to wait until one of you called. What happened at the Townline?" Henry said. She could hear him sitting up in his bed.

"Oh nothing dear, The force field changed a rabbit into a dove, I caught the rabbit because Emma couldn't catch anything" Regina sniggered slightly.

"A dove, that's strange. I don't remember anyone turning things into dove in the storybook. Maybe its someone from somewhere else!" Said Henry who ten seconds ago was yawning now he was fully awake and very excited.

"I wouldn't get you hopes Henry they might be a villain as far as we know." Regina reminded her son.

"What kind of villain turns things into doves?" Henry said sarcastically.

"You look into tomorrow, for now, go back to sleep," Regina said smiling at her son's enthusiasm.

"Sure thing Mom, I love you Mom tell other Mom I love her too, night," He said. Regina smiled

"I will my prince, I love you too, goodnight," She said softly. She hung up the phone. Emma was halfway through her beer when their food came. They both asked for a top up.

"Henry said he loves you and goodnight," Regina said putting her phone back in her bag.

"Awee our son, the softy," Emma said grinning.

"He's a sensitive soul is all," Regina said trying to stick up for Henry in his absence.

"Well, he must get his soft side from you" Emma giggle. "You're definitely a softy"

"Really Swan, I wasn't the one crying at a photo of a puppy on Instagram yesterday," Regina said raising her eyebrow at the blond.

"Hey, that tiny thing was cuddling with a baby, and when I sent it to you I saw your face, don't lie to me, I can tell," Emma said in a teasing tone.

"Well, like you said it was cuddling the baby but I didn't cry," Regina said trying to make a point.

"No, you just forwarded it to all your contacts. Including rumple?" Emma said trying not to laugh at the Queen.

"I'll have you know puppies are the dark one's weakness that and Roman noodles. He says he hates them, He has an entire secret cupboard full of them." Regina laughed hard and Emma joined in.

They talked more and laughed. Once they had finished their food they opted to walk safely home. When they got to Regina invited Emma inside. She led the blond into the kitchen to fix them a drink. Emma took a seat the table in the center.

Regina brought over a couple of glasses and some red wine.

"Hope you like it, its one of my favorites" Regina said smiling she set the glasses down and popped the cork out of the bottle. She poured an equal amount into each glass and placed the bottle down carefully. She handed Emma her glass and tapped her own against it.

"So at the line, you said the magic felt familiar to you. Is it dangerous?" Emma asked taking a sip of wine after and tasting it. She made a noise of appreciation and nodded to the brunette. "You definitely know your wine," Emma said took another sip and savored it." Yum"

"Thank you, years of experience," Regina said sipping her own.

" So the magic?" Emma asked not waiting to divert of her subject.

"I'm not sure I must have only sensed it briefly. It's strong though, their using black magic but there's something else there too" Regina said she sighed and took a seat next to Emma.

"Is there something else?" Emma asked knowing Regina had something else on her mind. She didn't want to pry but she didn't like seeing the brunette so downhearted.

" Maybe, I feel like I'm missing something, something really important. I just can't work out what it is" Regina's voice was quiet and thoughtful.

"It will turn up, it always does," She said reassuring Regina.

"But what if there's a reason I can't remember what it is." The Queen added darkly.

" We will sort it out, it's what we Hero's do!" Emma stated she put her hand in Regina's and smiled at the woman next to her. Regina turned her hand over and held onto the Saviour's hand. She looked scared but she knew they would work it out soon enough. She just didn't know what would happen once they did.


	6. Amber shard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking a twist

Emma must have fallen slept on Regina's sofa last night. It was surprisingly comfortable to sleep on!

The sofa was that cozy it was making Emma not want to move. Her head was aching there was a throbbing in her temples. Emma didn't usually drink alcohol that much, so the wine had made it a lot worse. Maybe she would skip the beer next time.

Emma knew she would have to try and open her eyes. She knew that it was going to hurt a lot, it was probably for the best. She could hear Regina and Henry cooking breakfast. She really needed a strong coffee. Lucky for her, no-one made their coffee as strong as Regina. Emma could smell the aroma coming from the kitchen on the sofa. She forced her self to open her eyes slowly. She blinked in pain a few times trying to adjust her eyes to the light. She finally managed to ease off the pain but there was still a heavy throbbing in her head. She slowly walked to the kitchen. She found Regina cooking pancakes and Henry with his plate stacked high, eating them hungrily.

"Hey heavy sleeper, I tried to get you up an hour ago but you were dead to the world," Regina said, pouring Emma a coffee and putting a few pancakes in front of Emma who had sat down next to Henry. Emma pushed them away.

" I'm sorry I don't think I could stomach that," Emma said in a tired voice.

"Ok Emma, but at least have some toast," Regina said, always in mum mode.

"Sure, let me just finish my coffee and I'll give it a whirl, " Emma said taking a sip of her coffee after and letting out a grateful moan."Thank you, this is perfect" Emma said cuddling the cup with her hands.

"Your welcome, just make sure you don't do that again. I should have warned you but I had forgotten you had a beer." Regina said.

"No it's my bad Regina, I'm a fool," Emma said laughing a little at herself. She sipped her coffee some more and chatted with Henry about a school project he had been working on. After everyone had finished their breakfast, they went to get ready for the day. Emma had to go home to get dressed. She and Regina were going to go check the town line once more for clues now it was light. Regina pulled up outside her house after Emma had just taken a mild painkiller to soothe her head. She walked up to the car carrying two fresh coffees in thermal cups. She opened the door and handed one to Regina before she got into the car.

" Thanks?" Regina said surprised but grateful.

" Your welcome, I thought it was the least I could do after passing out on your sofa," Emma said laughing at herself.

" It's ok really, I had a lot of fun last night when we got in the warm that is," Regina said giving Emma a small smiled.

"Me too," Emma said giving her a cheesy grin. Regina turned the radio. The song 'More Than A Feeling' blared through the speakers.

" This song is one of my favorites, turn it up," Emma said. She started to sing the song, dancing in her car seat. Regina joined in, She sang just as loud but her dancing was kept to a minimum in case she got over-enthusiastic. Regina had mostly forgottens yesterdays weird feeling of Deja-Vu. Emma's and Her spirits were high as they jammed out to different songs on the radio. To Emma's surprise, Regina knew most of the lyrics and her deep, gravelly voice sounded amazing as she confidently belted out each tune.

By the time they got to the town line, they had calmed a little. Regina stopped the car and they both got out. Emma decided to take a look around to search for clues.

Regina tried to use the walls magic to remember who the magic belonged to but nothing came to her. It was just as unsettling to her as yesterday. If felt as though it was powerful and dark. But the subtle lightness to it gave her hope. Maybe if they met this person they could talk to the person instead of having a huge battle like usual. She really didn't want more town repairs.

Over the years, the town had taken a beating. Regina took pride in her work and she made sure that everything was fixed as soon as possible. There were still a few areas of the town's surrounding area that haven't been seen too, but they weren't a priority. For now, she just hoped the person who put the forcefield up would be at least reasonable. After an hour of the two doing their own thing, they were becoming restless.

"Can we go now, there isn't much more I can do here?" Regina asked the blond, who was searching the ground still.

"Yeah give me a second I just have one last place to check. She walked to the side of the path onto the grass. Emma had already checked the other side and nothing had come up, but there was something in her gut that told her to keep looking. She pulled at the grass hoping something would catch her eye. She was about to give up when something glinted in her eye. She quickly made her way towards the twinkle. She got closer. She saw a small chip of amber stone. She reached out to pick it up. The stone looked as though it was a part of something bigger. As her fingertips touched it a huge spark erupted throwing her back onto the road knocking her unconscious.

"EMMA" Regina screamed running towards her as fast as she could. She knelt down by her side. She tapped her face lightly too see if she would wake. nothing. She quickly checked her pulse and to see if she was breathing. Luckily enough the heartbeat was just a little fast, which Regina expected having just seen her propelled through the air. Her breathing was heavy and a little strange but it made Regina relax. Everything was fine. She needed to wake Emma up to figure out what happen. She decided to go search where she had last seen Emma. She walked over to the grass. The glint caught her eye. She made her way cautiously over to it. She looked at the stone. It looked pretty harmless if the sun hadn't been out it would have caught her eye. She hovered her hand over it to see if she could feel any magic. As it hit her she felt the same presence as the town line just a lot more potent. It shocked her to feel the power of such a small shard. She slowly and warily reached out her finger. Just as she made contact.

Emma woke up and shouted. "NO, DON'T TOUCH THAT".

But her warning had come too late. Instead of being propelled backward a ball of fire erupted out of it and shot into the sky next to Emma on the road. Regina quickly, keeping hold of the shard, ran to Emma. The ball of flames got bigger as it spun around fast.

The noise and wind coming from it were so loud Emma and Regina had to shout at each other even though they were stood next to each other and hold on to the car.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" Emma shouted she had never seen magic like this before.

"I HAVE NO IDEA?, I THINK WE ARE ABOUT TO FIND OUT" Regina yelled back.

They both stared at the spinning ball of flames as it got bigger. It got to the size of a portal and stopped growing. It continued to spin but it was slowing down. It finally came to a halt. There was silence. Emma and Regina didn't dare to even breath. Nothing moved.

"Well, that was f...." Emma began but was surprised when the ball erupted into the air transforming into the shape.

"It has wings!" Emma said a little terrified of their new company.

"Oh my god!" Regina said. She hadn't expected this at all. The figure hovered in the air it held a staff over its shoulder. It wasn't properly emerged yet.

"Is it human?" Emma asked confused but the shape.

"It has wings," Regina said knowing that should have explained it's self.

The figure appeared in full form in front of the fireball. It was a young woman. She had dark long hair and was dress all in black. She looked like she was in her twenties. Her hair whipped lightly around her face.

"Hello, Mummy dearest!" She said a vicious smirk on her face. Her eyes locked on Regina.

"What?" ...


	7. Crystal Whisperer,

"What?" Regina was all she could say, alarmed at the new comer's first sentence. The small dark woman flew out of the portal. She had dark brown, almost black, hair. She was wearing all black and was carrying a large wooden staff with a large amber stone being held at the top by a cage of spiraling twigs. Her wings. She landed in front of the two. The large flame ball disappearing when she clicked her fingers once.

"I think you got the wrong person Kid, Regina can't have children," Emma said looking at Regina for confirmation. Regina was staring at the other dark-haired woman. "Regina?".

" It's not possible you can't be my daughter?" Regina said quietly to herself.

"Forgotten about me so soon. It was probably for the best that you abandoned me in the woods." Said the

"I...I would never do that!" Regina said a little angry at the accusation.

"Oh but you did Mother Dearest," The flying woman said getting closer to Regina, making the older woman uncomfortable. "You named me Aldara Mill's and left me this neckless," Aldara said holding out a small apple pendant on a chain. " I was born in the castle and you left me in the enchanted forest to die!"

"REGINA?" Emma said pissed off she would do something like that. She had done a lot of evil things but abandoning her own child didn't sound like Regina.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I'm not capable of something that cruel." Regina said getting angry at being accused of something she had never done.

"Oh but you are, you might not remember not Mummy but you will," The girl said disappearing completely in a burst of flames. Regina just stood there overwhelmed by different emotions.

"Regina, you ok?" Emma asked noticing the look on Regina's face. She hadn't seen it a lot but it usually meant there was work to be done. She knew Regina was lost, at least for the moment. Emma looked at the spot where the flying witch had just been. She couldn't believe what had just happened. A lot of impossible things had happened since she had come to Storybrooke, none as unbelievable as Regina having an orphaned Daughter.

Emma decided they need to sort out the new predicament. Regina was going to be unfocused until they came to the bottom of this.

Emma finally after a lot of shouting and tapping managed to break Regina's trance when she decided to pinch her. Maybe not the smartest idea, as soon as Emma applied pressure, out of nowhere Regina punched her in the stomach. Emma curled up and keeled over.

"Owww" the blond whimpered, holding her stomach in pain. Regina realizing what she had just done, she dove down to Emma.

"I'm so sorry Emma, I was thinking, you took me by surprise!" Regina said apologetically. She placed a hand on Emma's side. She used her magic to stop the pain. When the pain slowly vanished, Emma looked at Regina who still wore a concerned expression on her face.

"It's cool, I was expecting you to jump or something, I should have thought it through better" Emma admitted a little out of breath. Regina just smiled at her.

"I'm trained to react to surprise attacks. I'm sorry Emma" Regina admitted sitting back so Emma could sit up.

"You can really pack a punch, but I already knew that," Emma said smiling at Regina.

"Why thank you, I've been practicing," Regina said grinning back at the blond.

"On what?" Emma said rubbing her stomach.

"You of course," Regina said smirking slightly. Emma punched Regina lightly on the arm.

"Well that was pathetic Saviour, want another go" Regina taunted her playfully.

"No, you'll just hit me again" Emma complained. Looking at Regina and fake pouting who didn't answer. Instead, she was looking at Emma, a strange look on her face like she was thinking something over. She must have voted against it because she abruptly stood up and went to the car. Emma followed her confused with the mood swings Regina kept having.

"Well, that was weird," Emma said as she closed the car door. Regina quickly glanced at her then stared straight ahead and started the car.

"Was it ? I didn't notice" Regina said her voice giving away her lie.

"Sure whatever, we have more important stuff to figure out than why you keep freezing me out," Emma said a little grumpy. The pair didn't talk on the way home or even turn on the radio. Emma just stared at the window and Regina focused on the road. Regina pulled up in front of Grannies. They walked in to grab their food and get to Regina's office to learn more about Aldara. Ever since Regina had met her she couldn't switch her mind off that was racing. She stayed quiet as Emma and she ate. She was trying to think of a way to see if she really was Aldara's birth mother.

"Tell me what your thinking Gina?" Emma asked knowing it probably won't work but anything is better than the boredom she had been sat on waiting for Regina to come back to earth.

"What, yeah sorry I'm just really confused," Regina said. " I don't remember her at all, but there's a part of me telling me she's telling the truth. I need to find out. We need to look for a spell or something."

"Sure or we could do a paternity test?" Emma said thinking it might be easier.

"Are you kidding those take weeks. I know what spell I need I just can't remember what book I saw it in" Regina said annoyed with herself and Emma.

"Ok fine, what we also need to find out is where she has gone. I don't think she had peace of mind and her powers were... well stronger than rumples." Emma said concerned for her town and best friend.

" Emma I know that the problem is what happens when we do. If she is my daughter I can't hurt her, but what if she want's to kill me. I don't know if I can handle more people being hurt because of me." Regina said her eyes tearing up. Emma looked at her and put out her hand for her to hold.

"Look at me, we will find all of this out. You have to know Regina otherwise you will always beat yourself up about it. That won't be good for anyone" Emma said knowing getting worked up about everything was just going to make matters more complicated. "Right now we need to focus on finding out if she really is your daughter. Let's go ask Belle about the spell, she will know where to look" Emma said. They both quickly finished their lunch and left Grannies to go to the library to look for Belle.

They saw the woman as soon as they entered. She was reorganizing the returned books.

"Hey, guys, what brings you in here?" She asked when Emma and Regina walked in.

"We are looking for a spell, we were wondering if you knew where we could find it," Emma asked knowing the girl would know but wanted to be polite.

"Sure what spell are you looking for?" Belle said coming out from where she was to join them.

"I need a spell that will tell me whether or not someone is my offspring," Regina asked not wanting to reveal too much yet.

"OH, um sure, yeah I know the book," Belle said walking off to one of the many shelves and looking at their spins. She reached out and pulled out a small brown leather bound book. She walked back over to the women who were intrigued. " This book contains all the spells you can think of to do with family. breaking bonds, healing bonds and tons of other stuff. It's the only copy so be careful. Some of that magic dates back to the beginning. You should find a spell in there" She said handing Regina the book.

"Thank you, Belle. I really appreciate this" She said smiling at the young girl. She always regretted locking her away. If it wasn't for Rumple, their relationship might have been better but they were getting there slowly. Some progress is progress never the less.

"Bye Belle, seriously thanks, this is going to help Regina a lot," Emma said gratefully

"Bye guys, tell me how you get on, I have to say I'm curious," Belle admitted.

" When I have worked it all out I will come speak to you. Your books may come in handy. Bye Beauty" Regina said as she and Emma left the library. They made their way to Regina's office where they would get to work on finding out more about their visitor. They sat in silence for most of the day both focusing on one thing or another. Regina was looking through the book and jotting down different things to look into.

Emma was trying to find out more about Aldara. There wasn't much but most of it seems to show that she may lean a little to the light side. She had been arrested for peaceful protesting for animal rights, she had worked in an animal shelter and she even adopted two dogs. the information was vague and not all of her life had been recorded. Emma couldn't find the first fifteen years of her life. It was like she didn't exist until then.

"Regina, Aldara seems like she was a normal person. There are a few discrepancies. Mostly noise complaints about loud animals and things she stole when she was younger. " Emma began " The weirdest part is there are no files of her childhood. She first turns up when she is arrested for is a fight. There are a few addresses and more arrests. Shes worked at animals shelters and has adopted a couple dogs.

" That is strange, I've found a spell I think we could use. Look." Regina said handing Emma the book. It was open on a spell called 'Filia Mea', it means Daughter of mine in Latin. The spell only needs my blood, a sample of her DNA and an object that the daughter has had since birth. Those last to might be a little tricky." Regina admitted knowing that she needed to find a way of getting closer to the girl so she could talk a little. " I'm going to have to find her"

"I still have that shard from her staff. we could use a locator spell?" Emma suggested. Regina shook her head.

"No, I think we need to bring her to us, She needs to feel safe around us," Regina said knowing hinting he woman down would only end badly.

"Ok, Regina I'll go for it. What the plan?" Emma asked knowing if they didn't do it Regina's way and something went wrong, Regina would never forgive her.

"I'll use the shard to send a message to her staff. If it works the way I have seen them do in the past. It should whisper it to her." Regina informed the Saviour.

"That sound really creepy," Emma said not knowing why anyone would want something that whispered to them.

"That's why I never got one. That and they are extremely rare. I have only seen two myself and the rest of books. I never saw the one she is using though. An amber stone is rare. Especially one of that size. There's a lot of power in the staff that she hasn't been able to tap into. We need to make sure she doesn't use it against us, it could destroy all of Storybrooke." Regina said a little scared of what the two had uncovered. Regina quickly stood up. "I need to go and see Rumple." Emma nodded and followed her.

They walked into the shop, the bell announced their entrance. Rumple was stood behind the counter looking at a strange looking artifact. He looked up when the bell had gone.

"Hello your Magisty, Saviour. What can I do for you today?" Rumple asked in his usual sly voice.

"I need to send a message to a staff. Do you have anything that will help me?" Regina asked. She didn't like talking to the dark one but it was necessary sometimes. She would have to deal with his deals.

" Sure Dearie, I have just the thing. Wait here a second, I'll be right back." Rumple said as he slandered off into his backroom. He emerged a few minutes later with a strange looking stick and a small notebook. " Here it is the Crystal whisperer."

"Really Crystal whisperer?" Emma said thinking the name was a little on the crap side.

"I didn't choose the name Dearie" Rumple commented. he held the stick to one of the pages in the notebook. " Now you write what you want to say on this pad with this pencil. Whisper the name you are writing too, fold up the piece of paper and blow on it.

"Ok I'll take it, what do you want in return?" Regina said holding her hand out for Rumple to hand it to her. Knowing that first he would want to make a deal. She just wanted to hurry it along a bit. Rumple made a strange pleased noise.

"Not yet, Dearie, I will tell you when I am ready." He said adding in a small evil smile just for fun.

"Ok thanks, Rumple. Can I have it now? Regina asked growing impatient.

" I said not yet, First I want to know what you two are up too." He said knowing something was going on. He just didn't have any idea what they were up and why they would need a Crystal whisperer, staffs had been non-existent for years. He knows because he destroyed the last one himself.

"We met the person who cursed the town line and we need to find them and talk about something very serious," Regina said not wanting to tell Rumple anything else.

"Oh really, I wonder who that could be ?" Rumple said in his a mocking voice.

"You know who it might be?" Emma asked knowing Rumple always knew more than he let on.

"No Dearie I have no idea but if they are after Regina then it's not going to be good is it," He said honestly. Emma knew he was right so she dropped it. Not wanting to divulge more in case it upset Regina or blew their cover.

"Ok, Rumple we are going now. Thanks again for this and hope to not have to see you again for a while" Regina said. If there was one thing she knew it was that Rumple was not coming anywhere near Aldara. She would make sure of it.


	8. With a Twist

Regina and Emma went back to Regina's house. Regina asked Emma to drive. She was too distracted and went quiet again, she just stared out the window. It was starting to annoy Emma a little. She knew that Regina had a lot on her plate right now; Emma just wished Regina would talk to her properly.

On the way home, they picked up Henry at the diner who had their dinner with him. He clambered into the car, a huge smile on his face. He liked seeing his moms work together and get along. He would never have thought he would get this lucky.

" Hey, mom's," He said joyfully. He put the bag of food he was carrying on the seat next to him. " So you got anything today." He asked excited to hear what they said.

"Hey kid, we know who trapped us but we have a lot of work to do before we sort this out" Emma admitted. She didn't say too much knowing it was Regina's place to talk to Henry about this. Regina hadn't seemed to realize that Henry had even got in the car. Emma and Henry started at the woman looking straight forward.

"She has been like this all day, she has hardly talked to me. It's been a hard day" Emma said sounding tired.

"Why what happened?" Henry asked wondering what would send his adopted mother into a mental trance. She usually only did this when something was getting to her. He would have to talk to her because he knew there was only so much opening up she would do with Emma. They got back to the house and ate whilst watching some tv show Henry had put on about a guy in a box flying around saving people. Emma who had never heard of it was asking a lot of questions.

"So the guy just takes people off the earth, they travel around in a time and space to save the universe together?" Emma asked the concept was strange to Emma.

"Not exactly, the guy is called the doctor, he's a time lord" Henry began but was interrupted by Emma.

"A time lord, where'd he get a title like that?" Emma asked even more confused.

"No, it's his alien race. The rest of them were killed in a time war against the Daleks." Henry continued to explain. Emma interrupted again.

"Oh, I know that one the robots with the plunger on the front," Emma said, happy that she knew something.

"Yep, So the Doctor and his Companion use the T.A.R.D.I.S to travel through time and space.

"What the hell, kind of name is that for a time machine, I'd go with something like time crasher or blue box," Emma said thinking she was being smart. Henry was getting annoyed with Emma's ignorance for one of his favorite tv shows. He was about to explain the name when he was interrupted by Regina.

"Time And Relative Dimensions In Space," The queen said not batting an eye.

" What?" Emma said more shocked that Regina was talking let alone about a TV show.

" T.A.R.D.I.S, it stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. The Doctor can regenerate, meaning if he dies, he can come back in a different body" Emma was going to interrupt Regina again but Regina held her finger up to stop her. Emma stayed quite, She just raised an Eyebrow." Yes, it's weird but it makes for good tv. He has people come aboard the T.A.R.D.I.S to keep him company. The companion on the screen" Regina said pointing to a blond lady on the screen. " That is Rose. She's one of the better ones. She is also known as the Bad Wolf... actually we are going to do a marathon. Whilst we are finding what we need. I could use a distraction" Regina finished looking at Emma who was shocked that she knew so much.

" Wow ok if it's ok with Henry that we borrow them," She said not wanting to not ask him.

"Why, there are Mom's DVD's?" Henry said confused. Emma looked at Regina, her jaw agape. Regina just looked away a little shy.

"Like I said Rose is one of the best ones," She said blushing a little. looking anywhere but at Emma and Henry.

"Regina do you have a crush on Rose?" Emma said taken back by this new information.

"I do not!" Regina insisted unable to hide the fact her face was turning redder with embarrassment.

" Why are you being so shy, I didn't think she was a thing you did," Emma said laughing a little at Regina. She thought that it made her look adorable. That thought shook her a little. She brushed it off quickly.

"I am not being shy! I just think that her character is quite nice" Regina put bluntly. Emma mock agreed by nodding her head.

" Quite nice," She said before turning back to the Tv show. She was starting to get into it now. The Doctor, who was wearing converse, a long brown coat with a pinstriped suit was holding onto a weird magnet that was attached manually to the wall. He and Rose were being pulled back by heavy win created by a portal.

Emma was hooked knowing something was about to happen as the people robots and Daleks fly towards the portal. The impossible happened and the shied starts to shut down. Rose being the character, Emma thought she was, went to pull it back. She started off well, Thirty seconds later Rose had one fingertip on the lever. Rose let go and few backward being caught by who Emma remembered to be Rose's father. Watch transfix to see what he did to save her. By the end of the scene, Emma was in tears, Henry and Regina had been watching as well and hadn't noticed the blond blubbering until the episode ended. Regina looked at her watch to see the time and saw it was eleven.

"Ok Henry time for bed. Go get ready I will be up in a second" Regina told her son. He smiled at her tiredly then stood up. He hugged both of his Mom's goodnight and went to bed. Regina started to tidy up when she heard a whimpering sound. She looked at Emma and realized her eyes where red.

"Whats wrong?" Regina said concerned, she went over to the blond and sat next to her. She put an arm around her. Emma was a little embarrassed to admit why she was crying. She tried to calm down. She couldn't work out why it had gotten to her so much. She didn't even know the characters but something had just made her cry.

"Do you want to go outside for some air.?" Regina asked her. Emma nodded. Regina stood up and straightened her skirt. She held her hand out for Emma to encourage her to follow her. Emma grabbed her hand and slowly stood up. She used her free hand to wipe her face. Regina handed her a tissue she got with magic. Emma smiled gratefully, through teary eyes at Regina who smiled back kindly.

"Come with me," Regina said leading Emma by the hand and lead her to the back door. She opened the door to the backyard. The cool breeze hit the pair. Emma made a sound of relief, she hadn't realized how hot she had gotten. She released Regina's hand, hers feeling a little empty after but she didn't dwell on it. Regina walked them outside a little further. The got to Regina's apple tree. They both sat down on the bench.

"Here will do, what's up Swan?" Regina said concerned for Emma.

"It's going to sound stupid," Emma said not used to crying at a tv show. She had invested herself so much into the characters that she got upset when they were split up. Something struck a cord when she watched that scene.

"Emma?" Regina said softly not wanting to stress the blond further.

"It was something about that tv show" Emma admitted knowing Regina wouldn't give in until she knew what was going on with her.

"The TV show?" Regina said smirking a little, she didn't want to laugh but picturing the Saviour crying and Doomsday was just too much for her."Sorry Emma, I just didn't expect you of all people to react like this" She said grabbing Emma who had tried to run away.

" Well I don't know what happened I've never reacted like this before to any tv show. In fact, I have only ever cried at Lion king until now." Emma said trying to work out why she got so upset.

"Well if it makes you feel any better. That was the first episode I watched the tv show and Henry and I cried too, still chokes me even now. We have been obsessed with it since. We bought most of the series." Regina said. She laughed a little. Emma smiled at her.

"Really?" Emma asked she couldn't picture Regina crying at anything like that. Henry, of course, he was a big softie but She didn't think the brunette would become so emotional over a fictional show."Does he find her?" Emma asked curiously.

"Spoiler's Sweetie," Regina said smiling at her. " You have to watch and find out," Regina said not wanting to give anything away. Emma huffed but smiled at Regina.

"I never thought we would be like this" Emma said out of nowhere. It shook Regina a little but she recovered fast.

"What do you mean?" She asked confused with Emma's sudden change in conversation.

"Well, when I first got here we hated each other so much that I took a chainsaw to your apple tree. Now we are stood next to it drinking cider and talking out our son and binge watching tv shows together. I just didn't think we would be this close is all." Emma said the thought stuck with her. Since Emma had looked after Regina and Henry, she felt closer to the brunette.

"Yes I suppose, It is quite strange but I have to say my first impression of you was wrong. It just took me too long to realize that we could both be Henry's mum. Now I'm glad I have you because you let me become a better person rather than push me away. You Mother had tried to befriend me before but I remember thinking that I didn't need friends, especially her" Regina said." I regret that decision but I knew mother would use her against me anyway. I could never escape that horrible woman so isolated myself from anyone I cared about. After a while, everyone stopped caring about me. So I decided I would make them feel just as miserable as she made me feel and well, you know how all that ended" Regina was becoming upset having brought up emotions she tended to fight back.

"Well, you have us now. I'm not going anywhere Regina you don't have to worry about me and Henry." Emma said. Regina nodded a tear escaped her eye and fell down her cheek. Emma instinctively held Regina's face still with her hand and used her thumb to wipe it away.

She let her hand linger there a few seconds longer than she should. The two women were staring into each other's eye. Neither could look away. It was like something had locked their gaze on each other. Regina lent her face into Emma's palm. Emma pulled her into to her by her waist so she was against her. Emma put her arms around Regina's form. She hoped her hug would help her calm down. Surprisingly Regina put her arms around Emma's shoulders and hugged her back tightly. She was still sniffing a little and Emma could feel the tears through her t-shirt.

Emma couldn't help but notice how nice it felt to hold Regina. She never thought about it before, but she always enjoyed having Regina close. It was like they were stronger together. Emma felt her heart beating a little to fast. She was taken back by her reaction but was slowly coming to terms with what was happening to her. Whenever something happened Regina was there to help her. She had changed so much in the last couple of years that Emma found herself becoming more and more comfortable around the Mayor of Storybrooke. After a while, Regina pulled away a little so she could see Emma's face.

"Sorry, I'll sort myself out now, I doubt you want me ruining your t-shirt," Regina said trying to pull away from Emma. Clearly, the brunette had felt something too. The look on her face as she looked at Emma gave her away. Her eyes still red from crying were staring directly at the blonds. Emma could see it in her eyes. Something in that moment had changed them. There was a boundary just crosses and Emma didn't want to go back. So before Regina could say anything else. Emma put her hands on either side of Regina's face and used her own to silently ask for permission. Regina just smiled shyly breaking eye contact. Emma just lets out a soft laugh and Regina looked back at her.

"You are adorable." Emma unintentionally voiced. Regina smiled at her then pulled the blond closer to her. The tips of their noses touched as they took one last look into each other's eyes before taking a leap of faith. Emma was first to make her move unable to hold back any longer. She touched her lips to Regina's who instantly kissed her back. They kept it soft neither one wanting to push the other one too far. They both still had doubts about being together but they were slowly disappearing as their kiss grew more confident. Emma pulled Regina tighter to her as Regina moved her hand to Emma's hair. Regina opened her mouth a little to let Emma's tongue past her lips. They stayed like that longer than either one realized. After a while, Regina pulled away sharply.

"What are we going to tell Henry, What are we going to tell your parents?" She asked a little petrified of having to tell their son they were dating but she was even more terrified of telling Emma's parents, who she had spent most of her life trying to make miserable, that she was going out with there daughter

"I think Henry will be fine with it. In fact, I think it's going to be his new favorite fairy tale." Emma said grinning at Regina. As for my parent's I don't care what they think because there's nothing they could do to stop us being together. I mean we both would kick there ass for a start and what we have is just as real as what they feel for each other. It's just ours has a better twist." Emma said knowing Regina would know what she meant. Considering they both met because Regina had cast a curse on Emma's parents. Then Regina ended up adopting the Saviors child, who brought Emma back to see her off and now they were stood outside kissing.

"It sure does, want to go back inside and watch some more Doctor who?" Regina asked. What she meant was do you want to cuddle on the couch. Emma in reply Kissed Regina lightly and led them back inside.


	9. The letter

Regina and Henry were in the kitchen, years of the same routine made it impossible to sleep in. Regina was making Henry his breakfast before he went to school. She set a plate of toast down in front of her son, it was prepared exactly like he liked it. No crust, cut into triangles, and the jam and butter evenly spread to the sides.

When Emma was looking after them, Henry whispered to Regina that he liked her toast better. Not wanting to hurt Emma's feelings or be ungrateful, he would eat his toast but it always never cut properly and it had the crust on and jam and butter would pool in the middle making it soggy.

Once she had even gone so far as to switch it up and instead of putting on his jam that had been his favorite since he could remember, she had used chocolate spread. He had to admit he liked it but he preferred his jam.

The chocolate had gotten all over his face and his Emma and his Grandparents had laughed at him. Snow even tried to spit on a hanky and wash it off. Henry didn't have any of that though he had lept off his seat and yelled "I've got it, grandma" as he ran to the bathroom to wash it off himself.He never had it again after that in case Snow came at him with her hanky again. He loved his grandma but he didn't want Snow to clean his face with her spit hanky. He was too old for that.

He was halfway through his toast when Emma appeared from the living room. Her hair was messy and her clothes were all creased.It had made Henry jump because his other Mom hadn't told him she was here.

When Emma woke up covered with a blanket. She tried to straighten her hair up and debated just leaving but she didn't want to go without saying thank you. She could tell Regina had taken her shoes off because of they where neatly paired together by the edge of the sofa so she would see them when she woke up, but she wasn't awake enough to put them on yet so she stumbled sleepily to the kitchen.

"Hello Miss Swan, I was wondering when you'd wake up. I didn't tell Henry you were here in the hope he would make enough noise to wake you. I'm guessing it was the smell of toast and coffee that did the trick though because he was looking for one of his shoes earlier upstairs and I could hear him outside when I was picking apples, I came back in you were still snoring." Regina said putting toast and a cup of coffee in front of Emma who had just woken up.

"I do not snore!" Emma said embarrassed.

"Oh you do Miss Swan I took a video for proof, want to see it?" Regina said trying to see if she could make the blond blush anymore because she thought Emma looked cute when she was embarrassed.

" No, and Henry can't either, in fact, delete it now!" Emma said. Regina shook her head and held her phone up so Emma could see it.

"You'll have to get it first." She said wigging the phone, to taunt Emma, grinning at her. Emma leaped off her seat and darted for the phone. Regina poofed it to her other hand as soon as Emma had reached her.

" Not fair," Emma said as she went for the phone again. Regina disappeared and reappeared behind the Saviour and taped her on the shoulder. Emma turned around. Just as they made eye contact, Regina chucked the phone to Henry, who caught it expertly and ran as fast as he could away from Emma who was now running after him. She managed to grab him before he reached the stairs quickly grabbing the phone before Henry could react.

"Ah ha" When she got her phone Henry had tried to get it back by pickpocketing her. Emma who knew the trade quite well from her practice in her younger years had caught him red handed and now was carrying him into the kitchen over her shoulder. Both of them were out of breath from running around. Emma plonked Henry down next to his chair so he could finish his toast. Emma sat next to him and started on her own toast.

"I don't know how you do it but even your toast is perfect. I didn't think there was a right way to do toast, but apparently, there is." Emma said taking a bite and letting the jam spread over her tongue. It was defiantly better than the stuff Snow got from the shops. She made a noise of appreciation." Where do you get this stuff?" Emma asked curiously because she had never had a jam that tasted that good before and she had tried a lot of jams. Peanut butter and Jelly was one of her favorite snacks as a kid and secretly as an adult too.

" I make it," Regina said. The answer should have been obvious to Emma.

"Strawberry jam?" Emma asked thinking that it doesn't taste like strawberries because it had a very tart taste to it that made her mouth water.

"No raspberries. There a bush a the back of my garden. I experimented with the idea of using strawberries but when Henry was younger he got a nasty rash from the plant." Regina said remembering Henry coming in covered in red blotches complaining he felt itchy. He had been trying to sneak the Strawberries from the bush like he did with the really good raspberries. After eating one he started to feel funny and ran inside crying to his mum, who the next day dug the plant from the ground.

"Yep, I looked like a tomato for a few days. Mum had to force me to put some smelly cream on so it would go away." Henry chuckled.

"Yes, he was struggling so much to get away the first time that he accidentally kicked me in the stomach and felt so bad about it after that he just let me put it on every other time," Regina smirked at Henry and ruffled his hair.

"It smelt really bad though, Mom even took me out of school," Henry said smiling like being taken out of school was an accomplishment.

"Yes because no son of mine will go to school smelling like cheesy feet," Regina said making her and Emma another coffee. " Ok, I think we better get you to school. Your running ten minutes late already" Regina said hustling her son out of the door.

" I leave twenty minutes early usually anyway mum so I'm technically still ten minutes early for school," Henry said knowing he usually stood around waiting for the bus for ages. He would sometimes sneak into the dinner for a drink or cake.

"Yes and that's how it will stay. If I ever hear you were late for school I know its because you have probably wondered off. Like went, you kept skiving off to help Emma with Operation Cobra" Regina said as she gave him his coat and bag.

"Yeah but that was necessary, I need to get Emma to believe in magic" Henry complained.

"Ok but never again unless one of us say so, you already missed enough school this month," Regina said she kissed him on the cheek and Emma came out to hug him goodbye too. Regina closed the door when he was gone.

" So is there any chance I could shower and borrow an iron. I look like I've had a one night stand." Emma said looking down at her clothes, then at Regina who was laughing a little at her.

"I did try and lend you some pajama's but you wouldn't wake up. Of course, help yourself, I'll go find you a towel and some fresh clothing." Regina said she led the blond upstairs to her bathroom. She handed her a clean towel and some clothes that she magicked up some of Emma's clothes to wear. Although Emma had been practicing her magic she had trouble with the everyday spells like conjuring and teleporting herself places. Which was annoying to her because it would make things so much easier sometimes.

"You need to teach me how to do that, I want to be able to magic up bear claws whenever I want," Emma said knowing that, that probably wasn't going to convince her to teach her, but it was the truth.

"Maybe when we haven't got something to do? Have a shower already we need to get started before My head explodes from holding too many questions." Regina said. Going to walk out when she felt a hand on her arm stopping her from leaving. She turned around to Emma who quickly caught her her lips quickly with her own. She pulled away from the blond.

"Shower," She said softer than she tried to say it. Damn blond.

Regina went to get their research together and make a start on their day's work. She decided she needed to practice what she was going to write to Aldara's staff. She had been writing a while and had restarted a few time, not able to get the right words down. Maybe she needed a break. She went to make some coffee. She was pouring herself a cup when Emma walked into the kitchen.

"Ahh hook me up," Emma said doing a little run and slide to Regina.

" What?" Regina said confused at Emma's words.

"Could I have some coffee?" Emma asked forgetting herself a little in front of Regina. Regina raised an eyebrow waiting for something. " Please" Emma added with a cheesy smiled.

"Of course, here, have mine I will make another one," She said handing her cup over to Emma. Turning back to get another cup and pouring another coffee.

"Could we drink it outside?" Emma asked she really liked Regina's garden. Having lived in cities most of her life she never had a proper garden. She always kind of wanted one and Regina's was beautiful especially in summer. There were even a few sunflowers that Henry had helped to plant that where huge now.One of them was even taller than David.

" Sure, that sound like it will be refreshing. I've been sat trying to write to Aldara since you got in the shower. I've come up with nothing I like" She said a little angry at herself she was usually very well written. For some reason, she just couldn't word what she wanted to say. The pair walked to the bench.

"So talk to me see if that helps," Emma said grabbing Regina's hand and interlacing their fingers. Regina looked down at their hands and thought about what she was going to say. "Start at the maybe your daughter part. Do you think it's possible she is?" Emma asked trying to help the brunette a little.

"I guess it could be, I mean I could have taken a forgetting potion right after. I did know where Mum used to keep them, she used to use them all the time. So its possible, but I can't be sure who her father was. She could be Daniels." Regina said pausing at that thought. A tear springing to her eye. She looked at Emma with a shocked expression. " She might be Daniels" She smiled widely at Emma. The alternative she didn't want to think about because her mother had forced her into a lot of situations she didn't want to be in.

"That would be so great Gina, I think we should use a map to see where she is staying. You need to talk face to face" Emma said knowing Regina might be better at talking about everything rather than write.

"I don't think I can Emma, she was so angry. She looked like I did after Daniel died. She needs time to accept whats happening by herself. Showing up uninvited might just anger her more Emma. If she is my daughter, right now she might not be so easily consoled" Regina said knowing from past, not everyone wanted to be saved at first. It had taken Regina ages to realize she wanted help from her family and friends. Without Emma and Henry, she doubted that would have ever happened.

It took Henry being taken for her to come to terms with her life goals. None of them was going to be achieved by killing and capturing people. She had worked with her family against Pan to save her son and she noticed that it helped to have people around you that are trying to help. Seeing Snow and Emma together reminded Regina she wasn't the only one who has had a rough upbringing. She didn't realize how much she and Emma had in common.

They both grew up learning tough love. Maybe there experiences where different but they had the same result. The had both turned to darkness to get them out of it. The difference was Emma had been stopped before she dove in head first. She had met Neil and had Henry and the life she had been living she abandoned to help people. Regina had gone off the deep end and was there for quite some time before anyone would give her a chance. She had a few chances with Snow but back then she thought it more as an insult than a blessing. She didn't want to make the same mistake with Aldara. Pushing her too much right away might have catastrophic consequences.

" Ok, so we finish this letter then. Maybe just introduce yourself and explain about Cora a little and why you couldn't have kept her with you." Emma advised knowing that she would of like to know why her parent had to give her up. Regina nodded.

"I just wish I knew about her. Why would I take a potion to forget my own daughter, who does that?" Regina asked tears appearing in her eyes and she fought against herself. Emma took Regina's face in her hands.

"Look I know you and even as the Evil Queen you wouldn't have wanted your mother to know about her especially with her magic as strong as it is. She's a part of you that you knew you had to keep a secret for Aldara's sake. You need to tell her about it" Emma said hoping she was right for Regina's sake. The woman next to her looked so hurt and lost that she would do anything to get Sarcastic and bossy Regina back. She lightly kissed the older woman and led her inside. They sat on the sofa and Regina held the notebook and pencil. After a long conversation and many notes finally, Regina was happy to send her letter. It read:

Aldara,

Our first meeting was a little rocky. I have no memory of having a child but I assure you I am trying to remember you. My mother was a cruel woman and she made me do things I will always regret. If I left you it's because that woman would have hurt you. She did everything in her power to make my life miserable. She killed my first love and made me marry Snow Whites father who was considerably older than I was and was not as nice to me as he was his darling daughter.

Through the years I have worked on my anger for the world I was born in. I now have a family and friends. Something I never thought possible after what Mother and Rumplestiltskin had made me into. I just want you to know before you doing anything too rash that if you are my daughter that I love you no matter what. I would really like the chance to settle everything. I have found a way to restore my memories, if I gave you anything as a baby we can use it to make sure I am your mother, So we can finally know for sure that we are family. I really hope you consider meeting with me again.

Regina x

It might not be the most informative or persuasive letter she had written but it definitely the most truthful and hardest letter she had ever had to write. She did as rumple said and folded up the paper she whispered Aldara's name and blew on it. It burst into flames then disappeared. Now they just had to wait for the reply. Regina felt restless and uncertan she had done the right thing. 

"No matter what happens I'm here for you Regina" Emma reasured.Pulling the teriffied Brunette into her arms and holding her. "We won't stop until we are either dead or she wants to be a part of our family. We won't give up Regina we will do our best help her."

"I know, thank you Emma, I don't know what would of happened with out you around" Regina said snuggling further into the blonds grasp. She couldn't help but feel content there. She didn't know what was happening between her and Emma but for some reason it didn't seem important to figure it out. Her and Emma just seemed to fall into it together and neither one wanted to go back. For now they were happy just to have each other.


	10. The Neckless

Regina couldn't switch off since she had sent her letter. Emma was trying to get the mayor to sit still for a few moments.

"Gina seriously, sit down before you wear the floor away," Emma said sitting on the sofa watching Doctor Who, they had watched a few episodes before she had dozed off last night. Regina had started with 'Rose' the first modern-day episode. Emma had enjoyed it. The running around, the explosions, and the strange aliens. Emma couldn't help but wonder if the Doctor was real. There was a piece of her that wished he was and that he might pop up at some point.

"Hey, do you think that the Doctor exists?" Emma said curiously to the pacing woman who paused at her question giving it a lot of thought.

"I guess he could. Maybe Gallifrey is just another realm of super-intelligent lifeforms that had built the TARDIS' to go through different realms as well as space and time. Perhaps the Doctor just doesn't know about it. I mean he did meet a Robin Hood and Blackbeard. It is definitely a possibility." Regina said to the blond who grinned at her and bounce on her seat.

"I'm definitely going to research into that when we have sorted everything out. Do you need to go for a walk Regina it might make you stop wondering around looking all lost and anxious?" Emma asked noticing the blond had been doing it continuously for more than two hours now. Maybe she needed to get out.

"That might be good. I have been trying to think of where she might come and met us I don't think she will want to come here. We need to go somewhere more secluded." Regina said. Emma didn't know if Regina was right, the first place she would have come to meet them was at Regina's house. She didn't object to her thought though because maybe Regina had a hunch and was following it. The each grabbed what they needed and left.

Regina drove them to the forest outskirts. They began their walk. The forest looked beautiful during the day. The luscious green grass speckled with morning dew shone brightly. The clear blue sky was visible in amongst the leaves of the trees. The floor of the forest was covered in flowers and plants making the entire area look like it was right out of a fairy tale.

Emma took a deep breath taking in the fresh smell of the area. She had been inside all day and had needed a walk for a while now. Regina copied her taking in the air and letting it out slowly.

"You know back in the days of the enchanted forest I took sights like this for granted. Now coming here, seeing this. I remember what a beautiful place it was. Until I destroyed half of it and froze the other half I didn't realize how much I would miss the forest." Regina admitted a little sad but grateful that she could look at a little piece of her former kingdom.

"It is breathtaking. Even more so when you are here with me, I can't remember when I last felt this comfortable around a person. " Emma said smiling at the Mayor. Regina smiled back her cheeks turning pink. Without thinking about it Regina was holding the blond's hand. Emma rubbed her thumb on the back of Regina's reassuringly.

"We will sort all this out and then we can come here more often. Maybe even bring Henry along. " Emma said. She led Regina to a well-placed log. She sat down and used Regina's hand to try and get the Queen to join her.

"A log really, I think I would rather stand, than fall off that" Regina said. She wasn't a fan of sitting on things that could just roll out from underneath her. Emma grabbed the Brunette's waist when she had gotten her close enough and pulled her on to her lap. As predicted the log rolled forward and Emma fell on her back, Regina fell on top of her.

"Aw, that was why I didn't sit down Swan," Regina said through gritted teeth.

"Well, maybe I planned it?" Emma said kissing the tip of Regina's nose. Who sighed and relaxed her jaw. She prized herself off of Emma and stood up to dust herself off. Emma jumped up and grabbed hold of Regina.

"Come on Gina just relax a little. Everything will turn out ok." She said putting her hands on Regina's waist pulling her close and enveloping her in her arms. Regina responded by bringing her arms around Emma's waist and nuzzling her face into Emma's neck. Emma could feel a light tickle on her skin from Regina's deep breathing. She rested her chin on the Brunettes head. They stood still like that whilst Regina tried to relax. It was a long game. After a while, Regina pulled back from the hug.

"Miss Swan. What are we doing?" Regina asked a perplexed expression on her face. Emma looked back just as puzzled.

"Well we are hugging at the moment, We were just walking," Emma said. Stating the obvious not quite getting what Regina meant.

"No I meant we obviously care for each other but we haven't spoken about it." The brunette said hoping that she cleared up the confusion.

"I'm not sure, I'll be whoever you want me to be. I just know that I really like you, Gina, You're... special to me" Emma admitted. She didn't normally tell people that she needed them in her life, she usually tried to stay away from anyone trying to get too close to her. She couldn't help herself from wanting to let Regina in.

"Be whoever I wanted to be? That's a strange way of putting I would like to go out with you" Regina chuckled she took Emma's face between her hands. " Miss Swan I must be clear when I tell you, that I am most certainly falling for you. I have been for a while now. I guessed our little signs of affection meant you felt it too. If I have gotten it wrong I apologize. I don't want this to come between us." Regina said staring into Emma's eyes, wishing she could hear what the blond was thinking. A large smiled broke out over Emma's face.

"Regina you are the only other person I would trust, as much as I trust myself, with our son's life. Of course, that goes unsaid. Gina, you are so much more than you see. You are beautiful, powerful and feisty, but you're also passionate and caring. You gave all you love to our son and it shows in the person he has become. Gina, you are my Hero" Emma said. Tears sprung to the Brunettes eys. Not even knowing slightly how the blond could see her that way. Regina just saw herself failing her son over and over again. Getting him into situations no child should have been in. She just wanted to protect him and in the last few years, she hasn't been doing the best job.

Emma was holding a quite Regina when a loud pop came from behind her. She and Regina quickly broke apart to see what had made the noise. Stood there was Aldara. She snarled at them.

"What do you want?" She said viciously to Regina. Her eyes burning into the older women trying to intimidate her. It might have worked on anyone else but Regina straightened herself up.

" We need to talk. If you are my daughter I'd like to know for sure before I start to tell you about myself. I'm not one to share my life with someone on a whim. My past isn't something to be proud of but it is part of me. I was wondering do have anything that I left you as a baby, I can use it to make sure" Regina said trying to stay calm, hoping that Aldara would let her borrow a token if she had one. Aldara nodded more unsure than before but still holding strong to her anger. She unfastened a silver neckless from her neck. She floated it over to Regina, not wanting to get to close.

"Thank you, You will have it back in a minute," Regina said smiling at Aldara gently. She took the neckless from the air by the chain. She looked at the pendant hard, It had a small silver apple pendant hanging gracefully from the delicate silver chain. She definitely recognized it but she didn't know when she had last seen it.

"You left it with a note with my name on," Aldara said through gritted teeth as Regina looked at neckless. She took a small bottle from her pocket with a dark orange liquid in. She popped the cork and dipped the neckless in the liquid. The potion turned green and Regina's head immediately shot up to look at the young woman in front of her.

She couldn't help but try to deny it. She had touched the neckless and nothing had happened isn't that how these things usually work?. She was starting to get frustrated with herself. Why couldn't she remember her? She couldn't believe she would do this to herself, let alone her one and only Daughter.

She saw Aldara's face flash with sympathy and longing before it turned into confusion and hostility. She didn't take a step toward Regina. who was still staring at her. Regina wanted to explain herself to the girl, not knowing what happened, she didn't know what to say.

"I'm so sorry. I don't... I can't remember what happened. I have no idea what I did to you, or why I did it. I can't even remember when I would have had you let alone where I left you. I just wish I could remember. I want to be a good mother too you. I have an adopted son I share with Emma. He would love to meet you." She said smiling through unshed tears at Aldara who's face softened a little at the mention of having a little brother. She looked at Regina still unsure of what she should do. Aldara just stood there looking at Regina who was trying her best to get to the part she knew she had caught a glimpse of a second ago.

" I can tell there is a part of you that wants to forgive me. You just need to stop fighting it. I fought against parts of myself for years and managed to completely lose who I was. It took having Henry and Emma showing up for me to understand that I would never be happy if my life was dedicated to making everyone else's miserable. It took a while but it was worth it. Now I have more family than I ever thought possible. If you want you can have that too. I know that it won't make up for the years you spent without me to look after you, But I promise you, starting now I will try to make it up to you." Regina said hoping she would get to the younger woman. She could see she almost did but at the last moment her Daughters face turned angry and hurt.

"You could never want me, not now. Go have your life with your perfect son and perfect little family. I don't need that as a distraction. I need to concentrate on finding something to get me back to the Enchanted Forest." The woman said clearly not wanting anything to come between her and her plan. Regina could relate to this knowing that she was like that before she realized she could be different. Emma knew how she could help Regina.

" We know a way to get you home, they are called magic beans we have one here, you can use it but on the condition that you let us help you. Let Regina help you." Emma said knowing the more time the pair spent together the more likely that things will change between them. All she wanted was for them to be happy. She knew how this would affect them both if it wasn't sorted out.

" Yes that's a great idea, Emma, Aldara we can use the bean to open a portal to the Enchanted Forest. If you wanted, I and Emma could come with you through the portal to help you look for whatever it is you are looking for." Regina added to Emma's suggestion. She also had to admit it would be an ideal way for her and Aldara to get to know each other.

Aldara look taken back by the two women offer to help her. She had been doing things by herself for so long that she couldn't remember if she liked working with people. Unsure of what she wanted to do she stayed quiet. Thinking deeply about what she had wanted when she had met her mum.

When she was younger she dreamed of who her mother was. She wanted to be able to talk to her about anything and everything. Now her mother was stood in front of her all she wanted to do was run away from her. Aldara was confused and battling her conflicting emotions.

She could see her magic sparking at her fingertips. Her overwhelming emotions getting the best of her. Emma noticed what was happening. She took a step forwards. As soon as she moved Aldara's eyes flashed to Emma's face. Aldara's face was contorted. She didn't know how to respond to Emma getting closer to her. She warily took a step back put her hands in front of her palms facing Emma. Threating the blond to stay where she was.

"Calm down Aldara we can help you, we aren't going to do anything you don't want us to do. We want to keep you save and it would help if you didn't attack us." Emma said standing still as soon s Aldara had locked onto her movement. Aldara didn't lower her hands. Her eyes darted to Regina was looking at her face. Regina knew she had to do something before Emma got attacked by Aldara. She knew what the girl was feeling as she fought against her emotions.

"I know you think to hurt me will make you feel better, I promise you it won't. I spent most of my life hurting people to get my happy ending and now I regret every choice I made that ended up with someone hurt or worse dead. I burnt down villages and kidnapped children. I took a man from his daughter and left him to rot in wonderland. I was a vile being." Regina said finding it hard to talk about her past selves sin's but she knew she was in a better place now. 

"With the help of my family and friends, I will never go that deep into the darkness again. A family is there to catch you when you fall and lift you up stronger than ever. Aldara, please let us help you I know how it feels to be lonely, it's enough to make anyone turn against the world. I promise I try to work out a way to remember what happened to you. I just need you to know even if you hate me, I love you. I know I only just found out about you but now I know you are my Daughter I want nothing more than to stop you hurting, help you to find what makes you happy and to get to know you." Regina said tears escaping her eyes now and again, Regina wiped them away determined to finish her speech. 

" You are the only child I have ever and could ever have that actually came from me. My mother took everything from me. She killed you possible father and turned me into a monster with the help of Rumplestiltskin. I think if I was desperate enough to leave you alone in the woods that my mother was the reason. I have no doubt about that, she would have made you miserable like she made me. I just would have wanted you to be happy. That wasn't possible for anyone around that woman. She tore through anything precious to me. She separated me from my sister and made me forget she existed. She married me off to Snow Whites Father and I was used as a possession of his for years. That woman made me give up the one thing in the world I had always wished for... a child of my own. A tiny little bundle I could protect and love. My mother was going to use you or any child I had to shape into a ruler of her own creation. She was going to change you into something worse than a monster. You were going to become a living nightmare. She would have ruined you and broken everything that you were. She would have taken you away and sold you to a vile man who would use you for his own doings. I know because that's what she did to me. I would never wish that on anyone ever." Regina said tears rushing down her face allowing herself to lean a little on Emma who stood next to her staring at her like she could never look away. Aldara stared at her mother and Emma.

Aldara wasn't sure what to say. She never thought she would be lucky enough that her mother would actually want to get to know her. She always thought she would be turned away or worse kept hidden from the world so no one would know she existed.

Aldara tried to keep her breathing steady as she felt herself start to panic as thoughts crossed her head. She had gone so long not trusting anyone, every part of her was fighting the small part that wanted to join them. She clenched her fist tightly. She could feel herself shaking with anger. She closed her eyes and tried to sort through her feeling to relieve some of the anger that threatened to boil over.

She suddenly felt someone's hands on her forearms. Her eye' s flashed open immediately catching the matching brown eyes of her mother's that were softer than her own and sympathetic. Aldara tried to fight against the voice that told her to just let go and let herself be loved by this woman who was so openly wanting to make amends. She didn't have enough strength to fight it.

She relaxed a little. The warm, reassuring look in Regina's eyes was comforting to her, something about the woman just made her feel safe. It scared her. She couldn't let Regina think she had the best of her. She couldn't just give in so easily. She had been angry with this woman for all of her adult life as soon as she had worked out who and where she was, she had hunted her down. She was going to tear Regina mill's happy life apart if it was the last thing she did. Starting with Emma Swan.

Before Regina could react Aldara appeared behind Emma and held a small but lethal looking knife to her throat. Pressing a little too hard on Emma pale neck.

"You think I will forgive you after you left me to the dogs and then took a potion to forget about me. If you are trying to convince me to not hurt you, you're not putting up a great argument for yourself Mother" She spat the last word out like it was poison to her. She dug her nails into the arm which she was holding to keep Emma still. Emma was panicking now being at the end of a knife was making her tremble. She took one last look at Regina who whispered her name in a panicked tone. That was the last thing Emma remembered before Aldara disappeared taking her to a small completely pitch black room.

" You should make yourself comfortable Emma Swan" Emma could hear the hatred that pierced through her name as the young woman said it " You going to be here for quite some time."


	11. You Ruined my Life

Regina stood there lost, Her daughter had just taken Emma. What was she going to do? She needed to get Emma Swan back, that became the new priority.

She magicked herself to her kitchen. Henry would be home soon, He would be so angry with Regina that she had let Aldara take his mom. Regina panicking more than she had been since everything started. She was unable to stop the angry tears that fell. Maybe she should call Snow and Charming they might be able to help find Emma. She quickly grabbed the home phone and dialed the Charming's house. Snow picked up the phone.

"Hello Regina, I wasn't expecting you to call today, is everything alright?" Snow asked happy but concerned.

" No" Was all Regina could say. She didn't know what to tell Snow.

"What happened Regina, Whats going on, speak to me!" Snow said urgently. Regina shuffled on the end of the phone really dreading what she had to tell the woman.

"Emma's been taken" Regina tried once more to speak, choking up when she spoke. "It's all my fault, Snow! She shouldn't have been helping me, It was my problem to deal with and now she is in danger because of me. Again." Regina said unable to control the anger she felt towards herself.

"Calm down Regina I'm on my way, you need to tell me everything. I need my daughter back." Snow said determinedly.

" I need my Emma back" Regina added quietly.

"We are going to get her back," Snow said, she stopped the call before she made her way over in the car.

Regina put the phone down and went to sit in the living room. She sat staring at the wall until Snow rung the doorbell and woke her up from her daze. She stood up and walked slowly to the door. Pulling it open to reveal a red-faced angry looking Snow.

"Who has my Daughter?" She demanded from Regina. She hadn't yet noticed Regina's eyes which were red and puffy from crying. When she did her face instantly changed to a look of confusion and sympathy. She had never seen Regina look so stressed out and guilty before. It hit a nerve with Snow. This woman who was usually so well put together and powerful looked vulnerable and desperate. Snow didn't like it at all.

"Regina?" She said softly pulling her into a hug. Which Regina would usually push away but this time she needed someone else to lean on. She wrapped her arms around Snow.

"I'm so sorry Snow, She had her I couldn't do anything, Emma's in danger and I can't do anything." She said the tears starting again as she mumbled her words into Snow's jumper. Snow pulled away a little, her hands on Regina's forearms.

"If there is anything you should have learned by now is that its never over. We just need to work out a plan. Emma is strong she will hold up until we can save her. It's you I'm worried about, Who took Emma and why are they targeting you?" Snow said. She guided Regina to the kitchen and led her to a stool. Regina sat down and Snow began to make the tea.

"She is my Daughter," Regina started snow flashed her a confused look but let her continue. " She turned up a few days ago at the town line. She was the one who put it up the force field. She was so angry at me. Shouting that I was her mother and I abandoned her with only her name Aldara and a neckless I recognized vaguely. I obviously couldn't take her word for it. So I contacted her using something Rumple gave me. She found Emma and me this afternoon in the forest. I borrowed her neckless to test it. It confirmed that she is my daughter. I remember nothing of her, not carrying or having her, not even abandoning her. I tried to talk to her and calm her down. I thought it was going well but I could see she was battling herself still. At the last moment, she got furious and had a knife to Emma's throat. I couldn't do anything. She just disappeared she didn't even take her neckless with her." Regina said glad that Snow came over she really needed someone's support right now. She could barely think straight let alone come up with a plan of action.

"Um that's a lot of information, But I think I kind of get it. How come when you touched the neckless it didn't trigger your memory?" Snow said knowing that's what usually happened.

"I'm not sure perhaps I never looked at her face or I made sure my heart wasn't in my chest so no strong emotion would break the spell. Either way, I just destroyed any chance I had of having a child that was actually part of me. She hates me. I've never seen such distasted. Even on the faces of families, I destroyed back in my Evil Queen days. " Regina said becoming even rawer than before. She couldn't shift the feeling of guilt she had when she thought of her old ways. Tears now and again slipped her grasp. She could feel a constant knot in her stomach that made her feel sick and exposed. Snow placed a steaming cup of tea in front of her. She sipped it gratefully, taking small sips so she didn't burn herself.

"Did you say you still have the neckless?" Snow said. She had been listening hard to Regina hoping something would come up that would mean she could help Regina find Emma.

"Yes she left so fast I didn't have time to give it her back," Regina said not quite catching on to what Snow was getting at.

"Regina? Use the Neckless to find Emma" Snow said trying to wake Regina from her daze. Regina's eyes went wide. She reached into her pocket and got the neckless out. Just as she was about to put a locator spell on it Henry came through the front door.

"Hey Moms I'm home" Henry shouted in the hallway. He walked into the kitchen.

" Hey, Grandma why are you here, wheres Emma?" Henry asked starting to worry about what had happened whilst he was in school. Regina smiled slightly at him. She let Snow tell Henry what had happened unable to go through the story again.

" So Aldara took Mom, we need to get her back, quick do the spell so we can try and find her," Henry said panicking now he knew what had happened.

"Henry it's getting dark?" Regina said as an excuse, in reality, she wanted to go by herself, so no one else would come with her and get hurt. This was just a feeble attempt to stop Henry and Snow coming with her. Of course, it didn't work. Nothing could stop a charming once they have to save someone.

" It doesn't matter Mom the longer Emma is with her more chance there is that she might get hurt," Henry said knowing his Mom was just trying to do it by herself.

" Aldara might do something she can't come back from," Regina said quietly. Snow had heard her.

" Regina to be honest Aldara's innocence is the last thing we need to worry about," Snow said not really thinking about how Regina would take that comment.

"Actually Snow it's something I am worrying about greatly, that poor girl has lived her entire life thinking I didn't love her. I left my own baby in the woods and now because of it, she hates me and wants to destroy everything I have, even if it means that she will be unhappy and alone forever" Regina said passionately. Snow hadn't realized how much Regina cared for Aldara she would have thought that she would have hated her now that she had taken Emma.

Clearly, the Queen felt horrible about what she had done to Aldara.

" I'm sorry Regina I didn't realize you still wanted to try and get her to listen. We will make sure she knows she has a place with us" Snow said understanding now why Regina had gotten so worked up.

"Yeah, Mom we will make her see she's apart of our family, we never give up on our family. Do the spell so we can find them, together" Henry said smiling at his Mom and reaching his hand over to place it reassuringly on his mothers. He hoping she would let them help her.

Regina nodded defeated by logic and loyalty. She waved her hand over the neckless to cast the spell. It floated from her hand and started to drift towards the front door. The three of them followed it. It led them out the house. The all started running after the neckless as it flew through town finally stopping at an abandoned creepy looking house. 7

The windows were boarded up and the front door looked heavy and outdated. The trees around them loomed over the area creating a dark and intimidating atmosphere. Regina walked over to the old door. She knocked it hard. No one answered for a while. she waited a few minutes, Regina tried again louder this time. As soon as she had stopped Aldara appeared behind the three of them.

"Seriously, do you have a death wish?" Aldara said her hateful gaze directed at Regina. Snow was shocked, to say the least. This woman looked so much like Regina and yet she didn't. She clearly enjoyed the color black as much as her mother did.

Regina couldn't talk. Seeing her own daughter stare at her like that, broke something inside her.

"We are here for Emma," Snow said trying to help Regina a little.

Aldara getting a little closer to Snow to inspect her.

"You must be her mother. I heard you did the same to her as that evil witch did to me" She said clearly just as angry with Snow as she was with Regina. What else had they expected from an abandoned child with no answers?

"Please release my Mom, I really want to see if she ok. Aldara we can help you. Whatever it is you are looking for we can help you find it." Henry said trying desperately to save Emma.

"You must be Henry my adopted brother, how nice to meet you. I am very sorry but I can't release your Mom. She is a part of my plan to destroy our mother's happy ending." Aldara smiled darkly at her brother.

" How is hurting Emma going to stop Mom's happy ending. Emma had nothing to do with it other than helping her to see she could have one." Henry asked confused. His mom never usually depended on others to get her a happy ending. Regina had let Henry in because she couldn't stop herself from loving and caring for her son but Emma and Regina were always arguing about something.

"I believe Regina will fight hard to get her savior back, isn't that right Mummy," She said glaring intensely at Regina. " In fact, I will go as far to say she will always find her" Aldara smirked clearly picking up on something. Regina didn't say anything back. She didn't want Snow nosing about in her private affairs even if it included Emma.

"What is she insinuating with that Regina?" Snow shouted clearly noticing she had missed something. She knew Regina and Emma had been getting close of late. Maybe she just hadn't realized how close.

" Nothing that concerns you Snow butt out," Regina said clearly a little touchy about her and Emma's secret budding relationship. Her cheeks went a little red even though she was trying to keep herself composed.

" Fine but this isn't over," Snow said letting it go for now knowing that they had other, bigger things to deal with. Regina rolled her eyes.

"Are you two done arguing?" Aldara asked impatiently. " If you don't mind I think I will go back inside," Aldara said. She was about to leave when she heard Regina say something that grabbed her attention.

" I have your neckless." Regina said holding it up by the chain to show Aldara, " I'll give it you back as soon as I have Emma back" Regina had said it quietly but confident like she knew how much the charm meant to Aldara. The younger woman's eyes locked straight onto the neckless. Her eyes never leaving it.

"Give it back" She spat viciously.

"Not until I have Emma," Regina said authority filling her voice.

" What will stop me from just taking it from you?" Aldara asked.

"Because I know that if you could, you would have already," Regina said knowing that Aldara would be thinking as hard as she could to come up with a solution.

"No!" Aldara screamed she shot a fireball towards her mother, Who expertly deflected it. Sending a spell of her own to her daughter. Unable to recover fast enough from casting her fireball, she was hit with Regina's spell which placed a bracelet on her wrist.

"What, you used jewelry to attack me. Oh no, she put a leather cuff on me it burns?" Aldara said sarcastically. " I thought you were better than that Evil Queen." The young woman laughed maliciously. She tried again to cast a fireball towards Regina but nothing came from her hands. Her magic wasn't working.

"What is this thing, get it off me," She said clawing at it to try and prize it off. Anger bubbling up and taking over as she desperately tried to get the cuff off. She dropped to the ground hopelessly, still trying in vain to release its grip on her wrist

"That won't work dear, It stops your magic, maybe now you will listen to me. I need Emma Swan back here and safe. She is the one person who saw the good in me when everyone else couldn't. She is this town's savior without her around this place will go to hell." Regina said stepping closer to her daughter and crouching. She knew now was her chance to get too Aldara. Her daughter looked up at her through her eyelashes. Hate evident from the glare she gave her mother.

"NEVER! Aldara shouted in Regina's face. She pushed The older woman away from her. Regina landed on her bum. Shocked at her reaction. She had expected her to be angry but she was just rejecting Regina completely.

" You ruined my life! I was brought up by a loathsome old witch in a tiny wooden shed. I had to do everything she told me or I would be punished. I stole from people, hurt innocents and there was nothing I could do. As soon as I realized I had powers too, I sent her to OZ and I ran away. I heard she was killed later on by a cyclone. I was so happy she was gone. Then I could focus everything on finding you and getting my revenge." Aldara said her words so malicious and vindictive that Regina couldn't help but feel a little threatened by her daughter. Aldara could tell she had scared her, she stood up so she towered over her mother.

"This isn't over, I will see you break yet Mother!" She sneered at Regina. Aldara ran off leaving a stunned Regina sat on the floor. Snow and Henry let her go knowing it wouldn't help to go after the furious woman.

"She's your daughter, I can really see the resemblance." Snow joked she had expected Regina to glare or snap at her. Instead, she just burst into tears. Regina was hurt more than Snow thought was possible for the resilient woman sat on the floor in pieces. Henry went over to his mom crouching beside her and pulling her into a hug. Snow went over and joined them. She knew Regina was going to need all the support she could get.

Regina brought them back home. Snow's idea had just given Regina an idea. She just needed to find something of Emma that would work.

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Emma had been in the dark all day. Aldara had left her a piece of toast which she didn't eat and a dirty glass of water. In all honesty, Emma wasn't going to touch anything Aldara gave her.

Emma had used her time in the dark to feel out her surroundings. There was an old rickety chair in the one corner and a bucket. There was an old worn out mattress lay on the floor for her to sleep on. There was nothing she could use to escape she had already tried to use it all to reach the trapdoor on the ceiling. She had been trying to use her magic to float herself up like when Regina had been teaching her. She was getting there but progress was slow with the danger of falling to her death absent. She knew her incentive she should probably be just the same, considering death was still a threat but her magic wasn't as strong when Regina wasn't with her.

She had been trying for a while when Aldara made her jump out of her skin. The light from the hole burnt into her retinas. She looked away instinctively.

" Hello Emma, I saw Mother earlier, might have scared her a little, too bad you weren't there to help her. You should have seen her I'm so close to breaking her. I just have a few more things to see too, so the job is done properly, don't want her to have hope now." Aldara said teasingly. She slammed the lid shut and left Emma once again in the dark.

Emma used what she could to create light so she could see. She needed a better plan. She thought through every spell Regina had taught her or she had read about on an occasion. She riffled through her memories. Willing anything to jump out at her. Nothing did. Hopefully, Regina would find her soon otherwise she might just go mad. She had no idea how long she had been hidden for, it could have been hours it could have been minutes, It felt like forever. She knew Regina would find her. She still felt hope, knowing her family would come to save her.

She sat down against a wall, she would just have to wait.

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Regina had teleported the three of them to Snow's apartment as soon as she knew what she was doing. She ran to Emma's room, Snow and Henry following her not quite understanding what had Regina so frantic.

" Why are we here Regina?" Snow asked the shock this afternoon filling up her thoughts with questions. Regina searched silently, she also did it neatly, making sure not to ruin the room.

"Why doesn't she own anything?" Regina shouted more to herself than Henry and Snow.

"Mom, what are you doing," Henry said going over to Regina and stopping her for a second so she would listen to him.

"I'm looking for something I can use to find Emma, Henry what did she buy in here." Regina asked not having a clue what was Emmas and what Emma had borrowed or "borrowed".

"I have something that might work mum, but it might be a little strange, she hasn't used it for a while. She gave it to me to give to someone else when I needed to for operations" He said he quickly left the room. leaving Regina stood there confused.

"Well, that was vague?" Regina said. She sat on the bed and ran her hands through her hair stressed. Snow came to sit next to her.

"Henry's found something, you know him, We will have her back by the end of today Regina, Aldara doesn't have magic now what can she do?" Snow said trying to calm Regina down. Regina stayed quite, after a while she looked at Snow.

"It depends who she talks too," Regina said know there would be a few people in this town able to take the bracelet off and also help Aldara keep Emma from them. Regina just needed to get to Emma before Aldara found out how to get it off. She thought through what had happened and what Aldara had told them of her past. She would definitely have to talk to Zelena to see if she knew of the old witch who looked after Aldara as a baby. It could help to know what kind of person brought her daughter up. She couldn't believe everything that had happened. She and Emma were finally going to talk properly about had been happing with them, she had struggled to talk about it but now she was sure of her feelings she couldn't keep them in anymore.

" So we will find her first and finish this battle like Hero's should, then we will get on with finding your happy ending." Snow said knowing Regina could do this

" I know this might be a bad time to tell you but I'm in love with your daughter," Regina said relieved she had finally told someone. She had only worked it out herself a few minutes before. She hadn't been able to put her finger on why Emma being taken had hurt her so much, She hadn't even been like that when Henry was taken to Neverland. She had put it down to who had taken her but Aldara had made it obvious that she had worked out before Regina what had happened between the two woman.


	12. EMMA?

"I found it, Mom this should work," Henry said coming back into Emma's room. He handed Emma's walkie-talkie. "Will it work, she bought it from Mr. Gold when she first got here, this one's her's, I still have mine. We could take it so we can talk to her too" He was clearly proud of his work. Regina smiled at him.

"Yes Henry it's perfect, thank you," she said taking it from him gratefully. She checked her watch it read 9:00 PM. "We need to do this quick Aldara's had an hour headstart." They quickly made their way to a car. When they were all in Regina put a tracking spell on the walkie-talkie. She released it out the window and started the engine. They followed the walkie-talkie to the edge of the road where it started to float towards the forest. They quickly ditched the car by the side of the road and ran after it. It led them to the age of the stream and floated to the floor.

" There's nothing here?" Henry pointed out. The three of them looked around for anything that could tell them where Emma was. Nothing reared its head. Regina didn't know what to do she went to the walkie-talkie to pick it up. Snow and Henry joined her.

"Why isn't it working, we need a new tactic?" Regina said getting agitated.

"Mom!" He shouted hoping somehow his Mom would shout back to them. 

"That might work," Regina said Snow and her started to shout for Emma as well. Snow put her arm in the air to signal them to stop.

"Be quiet a second I think I can hear something?" Snow said making Regina and Henry stop dead in their tracks. Snow was right Regina could hear the sound of something metal hitting something hard. They all strained to hear where the sound came from.

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Aldara had got to a good spot where she knew she most likely couldn't be found. She still couldn't get the cuff off. She struggled, shouting and cursing as she tried to prize it off. After a grueling ten minutes, She gave up and sat down on the grass beneath her.

She couldn't do anything without her magic her entire plan was obsolete without it. She let out an angry scream. She let it echo out around her.

"Calm down deary, Whats with all the noise?" A strange voice asked. She stopped abruptly. She took in the appearance of the man stood next to her. He was wearing a black suit with red tie. He had shoulder-length gray hair. Next to him stood three women. All of them dressed bizarrely even for Storybrooke. The blond lady stood closest to the man was wearing a gray outfit, holding a staff like Aldara's, Next to her was a woman in a crocodile leather jacket, black skirt, and boots. On the other side of the man, wearing a black and white fur coat to match her black and white hair was Cruella DaVille. Her makeup was thick and cartoon-like, making her look sinister and violent.

"Your Cruella, You steal puppies?" Aldara said she was completely baffled by the stranger's appearance.

"Sure darlin', if that's what they are calling it these days, I prefer to call it hunting" Cruella laughed maniacally.

" Don't scare the poor girl Cruella, She might be a new friend, I'm Mr. Gold or Rumplestiltskin if you prefer. As you know this is Cruella De Vil" He pointed to the others, " And this is Maleficent and Ursula". The two women just stared at her.

"So which is it then Darlin' a Hero or a Villan," Cruella asked smirking at Aldara.

"Whatever one helps me to destroy Mother's happy life here," She said knowing maybe she could use just a little help.

"Who is your Mother?" Maleficent asked a little panicked.

"Regina Mills or you may know her more frequently used name in the Enchanted Forest the Evil Queen." She said her name with such contempt that it threw even Rumple.

"Well dearie, I think you came to the right place," Rumple said giggling a little in the way he does. He transported them to his cabin where he has been hiding from everyone. " So Regina's your Mom, looks like you pulled the short straw there Dearie, It's ok because we are here to help, but you must help us also," Rumple said knowing this young girl was sure to take on one of his deals, It was exactly what he needed. A willing volunteer.

" I will do anything to see that woman a broken heap, because of her I was treated like a dirt for years. When I was finally strong enough to get rid of the foul woman who found me after Mother abandoned me, she was in charge of the kingdom. Of course, I was a clueless child so I went to search for her. I had no idea who she was but I found a spell that helped me find her. I watched her a lot through a small mirror I stole from the old witch who dragged me up. I started to hate her after watching her destroy peoples lives like it was nothing. I sat by and hoped that Snow would stop her. She didn't, of course, Regina managed to get you all sent here. So I spent years finding a way to this world. I finally found it when I found Peter Pan he took me to Neverland and after a while, I left to find two people who would kidnap Henry for Pan. He let me stay in this world as a reward for my dedication to his cause. I was fifteen when I was dropped off. It took me a while to find people who believed me. But finally, after eight grueling years, I found them the couple I had been waiting for. The both of them had a vendetta out on magic, one even on Regina herself. I told them how to get to where Storybrooke was, I had no idea how to get in here. A few years later they managed to finally find a way in. I have no idea how they managed it but they did. I heard they didn't come back, so I decided to come here myself. Knowing she would be here and I could finally make her pay for what she did to me and so many others. Then I get here and she's working with them... against me? She even managed to put this stupid cuff on me so I can't use my magic." She said getting more annoyed the bracelet was still there.

" Then cut off your hand, you will lose the bracelet," Ursula said. It annoyed Aldara that the woman was being condescending.

"What, I'm not going to chop my own hand off, what the hell is wrong with you," Aldara said getting more and more freaked out by the strangers who found her.

"She is right you know, the only way to get that thing off right now is to cut off your wrist," Rumple said.

"You can grow it right back Darlin'," Cruella said trying to move it along a little.

"You're serious?" Aldara said. The four of them nodded at her.

"Uh yes," Rumple said. Aldara glanced nervously at them. She took a knife from Rumple.

"Well, here I go, I'm gonna do it, I'm going to chop my own hand off, just got to mentally prepare for this moment," Aldara said stalling as much as she could.

"Come on you wimp just do it already!" Cruella shouted. Aldara didn't move. "Oh for god's sake" Cruella shouted as grabbed the knife off of Aldara and quickly slashed her hand off just at the end of the cuff. As her hand fell lifelessly to the floor. Aldara let out a piercing scream followed by many curse words and threats to Cruella. She stared at her stump in shock.

"Grow it back then," Ursula said to Aldara.

"How?" She said back panicking running a little on the spot. " My fucking hand is gone, man!"

"Stop whining for a second and I'll tell you how to grow it back," Rumple said throwing a freezing spell on her to stop her from jumping about.

"When I unfreeze you, simply concentrate on it and wish it to grow. It shall grow back if you are strong enough that is" He said then unfroze Aldara and she focused on the stump. It slowly started to grow back. Aldara made a disgusted face as it slowly formed back into her hand.

"I'm not doing that ever again," Aldara said wriggling her fingers to make sure they didn't feel any different. She quickly tested to see if her magic was back. She sent a fireball into the nearest tree.

"Awesome, now I need to get back to where I hid Emma before Regina frees her," Aldara said quickly conjuring her mirror up to check on Emma and Regina. She could see that Regina was close to finding Emma.

"Not on my watch. You four losers coming with me or staying here?" She asked them.

"If there's a fight, I'm there, Darlin', " Cruella said chuckling. The other three just nodded and they teleported to where Regina, Snow, and Henry were all stood over where Emma was hidden. Regina had magicked up a shovel each for them so they could try to dig to find where ever the noise was coming from.

"I'd stop there if you know whats good for you," Aldara said to them to try and get their attention. The three of them looked up at her.

"You! Get my Mom, back here now!" Henry said running towards her. He was so fast and so angry that he had slipped past Regina and Snow who tried to catch him. He was almost to Aldara when a wave of magic hit him and made him fly back to Regina and Snow. They quickly knelt down to help him. Just as they did Emma flew up from the trapdoor.

"NOBODY HURTS OUR SON!" Emma shouted as she threw an even more powerful burst of light magic to Aldara who was taken back by it. Not expecting Emma to be able to get out, let alone hit her with light magic.

Aldara lay on the floor she took a deep breath and stood up. She went to throw a fireball of her own at Emma but Regina defected it.

" Thanks," Emma said to Regina as she landed by her side.

"I always have your back, Savior," Regina said grinning at Emma. Emma grabbed her hand and turned Regina to face her.

"What's the plan here" She whispered into her ear " and how long was I in there for?" Emma asked because she felt like she had been in their for a while.

" Since this morning when Aldara took you," Regina said.

" What? It felt so much longer than that" Emma said confused. Regina chuckled at her cute dazed expression. She put a hand on Emma's face forgetting where she was.

"It's ok though because I found you and now we are fine," Regina said she quickly kissed Emma. They were interrupted by Rumple coughing to get their attention.

"If you would please just get on with it. I have better things to do than to watch you two playing house" He said smirking at Emma and Regina.

"Oh, stuff it Grumple" Regina quipped as the two of them turned to him and the others.

"Did you just?" He said offended.

"Yes I did, Now if the four of you could go, so I could talk privately with my daughter that would be great," She said giving them a sarcastic smile.

" No, I think I want to stick around to watch the fun," Maleficent said. She was glaring at Regina. "Finally gave up did you, Regina?" She said looking the woman up and down.

"Can't beat them join them?" Ursula said bored already.

" Why do you think joining them is going to change anything for you?" Rumple asked. He thought he knew Regina but clearly, he hadn't been paying enough attention.

" Rumple you know the reason is that Villians never get happy endings. I'm sick of being miserable all the time. Hating everything and everyone. Feeling lonely all the time. Never being able to see my son. What else should I have done? I saw reason, Rumple. I thought you had too until you lied to Belle. Now the hole in my heart is slowly being filled with love whilst yours continues to darken and kill off your ability to love completely. What are you going to do when there is none of you left when you turn into that dirty Imp with no one to love you, not even Belle." Regina said more confident, especially with Emma by her side.

"Oh but dear that is where you are wrong. Once I get my hands on what I need I don't think a black heart will get in my way." He laughed he started to step forward when he walked into a barrier around them.

" All of you leave now!" Aldara said " Clearly I need to do this alone," She said, flicking her fingers towards them making them disappeared. " Now I can think better, I need to talk to your mother," Aldara said getting closer to them. "As you can see I found a way around you bracelet idea, I just want you to know, you may have found Emma but you still haven't won yet." She said she went to disappear but Regina stopped her.

"You don't have to do this you know, I know, that you hate who I used to be but I'm not like that now, I've tried hard to fight that part of myself. If you just gave me a few seconds to talk to you about it" Regina tried to reason and show Aldara that she wasn't giving up on her. Aldara looked at Regina's face. Regina saw Aldara's face soften and look down at Regina's hand on her wrist then back to Regina. Regina could see tears in her eyes. She could see Aldara fighting hard against her hate for her.

"I can't," Aldara said angry more at herself this time than Regina and disappeared in a thick cloud of orange smoke.

"She's calming down" Regina noted to herself and Emma a little relieved.

"I mean it could have been worse but how can you tell?" Emma asked.

"She didn't flame out like she was before. She wasn't trying to intimidate us like she had been trying to do with the fire" Regina said she smiled a little an Emma who smiled back. Regina put her arm around Emma.

"Hey does someone want to catch me up?" Henry said looking at his Mom's dumbfounded. "Since when were you two a couple?" The young boy said walking to Emma and Regina who just grinned at him. He ran over and Emma and Regina wrapped him in a hug. "I'm so glad you flew up from the ground Mum," Henry said pulling away to see Emma's face.

" So am I kid, so am I, now come here I missed you. I was sat in the pitch black all day. It gets to you after a while." Emma said pulling Henry back into their hug.

"I'm so glad we found you, Emma, I knew we could. We ran into Aldara earlier she was a piece of work. To be honest Regina I think you are going to need all the help you can get, if you want Aldara to want to talk this out with you" Snow said approaching them. They broke the hug and Regina looked at Snow.

" I know. This might get a little messy" Regina admitted. " Snow, will you and David help me?"

"I think we can handle a little mess," Snow said. She smiled at Regina and went to join the hug. They all split after a while and walked back to the car. By this point, everyone was exhausted and ready to drop. Snow took the wheel on the way home because Emma and Regina were both too worn out after the events of the day, the both of them almost falling asleep in the back of the car.

"Hey, Regina do you want to stay over tonight it would save me a trip?" Snow asked politely. Regina just nodded and rested her head on Emma's shoulder. Emma kissed her forehead lightly. Regina smiled with her eyes still closed. She felt like herself again now Emma was back beside her. She couldn't help but shake the thought that maybe she had fallen for the Savior a long time ago. It just took a little push to get them there. Now she was there she couldn't help but feel glad that her plans had never worked. She even began to think her curse was more like a blessing in disguise, she had gotten Emma and her son because of it. She might even have a daughter who wanted to be a part of their family soon enough. She really hoped Aldara would see that she wasn't the same person she was when she lived in the Enchanted Forest. She wanted her to know that she would a good Mom to her and also teach her to use her magic for good.


	13. Approch

Waking up with Emma Swan in Snow White's Apartment was one of the strangest but best moments of Regina's life. She felt content and happy when she felt Emma lay beside her.

The night before, they had talked a little before they had fallen asleep. They had gotten back and Snow made everyone hot chocolate before they went to bed.

"So you two are officially together now?" Snow asked curious about what was going on between the two of them. A few years ago she would have freaked out if Emma had told her she was dating Regina. A lot had happened since then and Snow knew that Regina had changed for the better in the last few years. Regina had looked at Emma who had looked to Regina. Each wearing the same expression. Their faces waiting for the other one to say yes but neither knowing what to say.

"I think that's a conversation we need to have still Mum," Emma said smiling at Snow, who handed them all their hot chocolates.

"Either way Mom's I support you," Henry said secretly excited that his mom's had started to get closer. Ever since Regina had been ill Henry had seen what had slowly blossomed between the two. He hadn't pushed the matter knowing his stubborn mom's needed to get there by themselves. "So whats your plan with Aldara?"

"I'm not sure yet, I need her to trust me so I can talk to her about everything. I also need to get my memories back. I know it shouldn't matter but not being able to remember what happened and why it happened, is starting to scramble my brain. I've been all over the place lately. I need to start concentrating. I think I need to sleep" Regina said in a tired voice, yawning at the end. She was so mentally and physically drained that Emma had to help her up the stairs. Emma gave her one of the old t-shirts she used as pajamas and some old sports shorts and went to get changed herself. When she came back to Regina. The Queen was stood in the corner of the room not knowing what to do.

"Sorry I don't buy Pajama's I just use my old clothes. But I have to say you make it look sexy" Emma said winking at Regina who blushed a little. Emma got into bed. " You going to come to bed?" She said patting the space next to her.

Regina nodded nervously and slowly started towards the bed. Emma impatient grabbed her by her waist and pulled her under the covers. Regina was laid with her back against Emma's warm body. She was finding it hard to relax sure that Emma was going to change her mind.

"There's nothing to worry about Regina I'm not going to hurt you, not ever" Emma whispered into Regina's ear. " I know this is all new to us, and we haven't really been able to talk about it but I think it's important for you to know, I trust you. I want you to be able to trust me too. I Promise I'm not going anywhere. I will be here as long as you need me to be even when I'm not actually with you... I will be there for you." Emma said as she pulled Regina closer to her. Regina relaxed a little in Emma's arms. She felt safe there. She did trust Emma it was other people she didn't trust. It made it very difficult to believe Emma and she could be happy together. For now, she would just have to live in the moment and hope tomorrow brought them better luck.

"Emma, what do you see in me?" Regina asked her eyes watering a little after Emma's speech. She turned so she was facing Emma. She placed an arm around the blond's waist. Emma smiled at her sweetly then swept away a stray hair on the Queen's face and tucked it behind Regina's ear.

" Apart from you looking absolutely stunning in a pantsuit?, You brave, caring, passionate, intelligent and most of all your not scared to admit you have a bad past but you don't let it stop you becoming a better person. That's something I admire you for because I know how hard it is to let go of the past." Emma said looking into Regina's eyes to make sure she listened to every word. Instead of saying anything Regina had nervously kissed Emma lightly, Emma moaned in surprise into the kiss but then began to kiss back. It was different from the kisses they had shared before it was more passionate and solid. Neither of them tried to pull away instead they lost themselves and let their emotions do the work. 

They finally pulled away from each other, their faces were red and their lips were swollen. Regina held Emma's face between her hands. She stared deep into the blond's eyes getting lost for a few seconds. She couldn't help but notice how different she and Emma had been to each other since she found out about Aldara. Emma had supported her and made sure she was there for Regina when she had needed her. When Emma had been in the dark pit she couldn't help but want to show Regina that they could work. That they could both make it work between them. All they needed was each other and their son. Emma was determined to make her Queen happy that was her last thought before she fell asleep with Regina wrapped up in her arms.

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Regina felt a buzz of happiness and freedom all over her body. She had never felt this sense of belonging before. Emma and she just seemed to fit together. Even though many of their interests were dissimilar, they seemed to get along fine. She sat up a little to stretch her aching muscles. She looked down at Emma who's blond hair was splayed across her pillow.

Even now Regina was better, Emma would still come round to check on 'Henry'. That usually meant staying up watching crap on tv and talking about anything they wanted too. Once Emma had even challenged her to a game of chess. The blond was pretty good at the game and had beat Regina once or twice, Regina usually had the upper hand. Having played against people who could play chess professionally, she was almost impossible to trick into a checkmate. Regina knew that her past could bring up issues between them, Regina was all too aware that they might suffer as a couple because of the person Regina used to be. There were things she had done that might challenge them as a couple. She started to panic, maybe she had made a mistake by letting herself be with Emma. She had put the Saviour at risk by being with her. There was a lot of people that had a vendetta against her. Most of them for good reason. 

She hadn't realized she had been shaking until Emma had woken up and sat up to comfort her. The blond pulled Regina into her embrace.

"Stop Panicking, nothing is going to happen to us. I'm with you for the long run, Regina. I promise." Emma whispered. Regina felt the tears well in her eyes.

"You can't promise me anything Emma, You don't even know half of the despicable and inhuman things I did as the Evil Queen. I can't even forgive myself for most of the things I did. How will someone as amazing as you like someone who has a past as hideous as me?" Regina said becoming a little hysterical. Emma waited for Regina to calm herself down, knowing at this point, her words wouldn't have any effect on her. 

Regina breathed deeply for a few moments. She knew she was probably wrong, but there was always a voice in the back of her head telling her she was going to screw it all up at some point. She finally calmed herself enough to stop crying but she was still shaking.

"Regina, talk to me," Emma said softly, Regina looked at her then looked at her hands. She shakily took a breath. She stayed quiet for a while mulling over what she was going to say.

"Emma, there is a lot of things I have done, that you don't know about. Some of it is horrendous, I don't really remember a lot of it. The memories seem more like a vivid dream, I'm not even sure if some of it actually even happened. The things I do remember clearly haunt me all the time and I'm still not sure that I can control my dark side. Sometimes I just slip into the mindset and I don't realize until I've said or done something I regret. I don't know if I'm good enough or strong enough to be with you. I still, even now, do certain things that make me wonder if I can fight the evil part of myself." She said pulling away from Emma's arms and sitting up to hug her knees. "Part of me knows I can fight it off, Then the other part is questioning why I am fighting it. I don't deserve to be here in this house in bed with you. I hurt so many people, I can't see why someone who has been affected so badly because of my selfish actions would want to be with me?" Regina said her voice breaking in places and she tried to fight the urge to cry the entire time. 

"Regina not all of this was you, somethings were in place before you were even born. You pretty much had your entire life planned out for you by Cora. She kept Zelena and you apart, she turned you against Snow and killed Daniel in front of you. Rumple literally groomed you into the Evil Queen and gave you the dark curse as a part of his plan to get Neal back. Sure some of it you decided to do and I can't say your not to blame. I just know that if it wasn't for all of these people turning you against the world, against yourself. You might not have had to fight the darkness at all." Emma said trying to make her see she never stood a chance against it all. "You might have done evil things it doesn't mean you have to be evil. I've done a lot of things I regret and to be honest it's why I struggled so much to be called the Saviour, I mean I wasn't really the saving type before I got here. I just learned that the type of people you surround yourself with shouldn't be someone who wants you to hurt. They should be the kind of person, who when you are hurt, helps you to heal. Regina you have us to help you heal, Henry, Snow, David, Archie, even the dwarfs! All the people you've been fighting against are the people who want to help you the most. We never want to see people suffer. Regina you only just started the fight, it is hard to fight something that's been a part of your life for so long that you depended on so much as a part of your identity. Now it's not, people get to see the real you. I promise here and now I will help you to be the kind of person you can feel proud to be." Emma said to Regina who was starting to calm down now Emma had talked to her. She stared at Emma. She couldn't even fathom how Emma could see the good in her, but she did. Maybe she was right perhaps if she can lean on the people around her when she is struggling she might not have to go to the dark and lonely place she found herself in so many times before. She couldn't help the feeling of tenderness and endearment that hit her when Emma spoke.

She never saw herself as she got older as someone a person could love let alone be loved. In less than two minutes Emma had shown her that she had people around that did love her and wanted her to be happy. 

"I think I'm falling in love with you Emma," Regina said she didn't really mean to tell her this soon. She couldn't help herself from admitting it. Emma's face just lit up. Regina got embarrassed and tried to get out of bed but Emma sat up and pulled Regina back to her by her waistband. Regina's back was against her so she wrapped her arms around the brunette's stomach and rested her chin on Regina's shoulder.

"Don't worry I'm here to catch you" Emma whispered and kissed her cheek lightly. Regina turned to face her and captured Emma's lips with her own. 

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Snow was the first person up. She had made breakfast for David and Henry. Snow had forgotten to catch up her husband on the recent event. Henry and he had been halfway through their breakfast when Emma and Regina came down the stairs. He had almost choked on his toast when they had come downstairs hand in hand. He struggled to swallow the bread as they descended. 

"Emma, Regina?" His voice giving away his surprise more than he liked.

"Yeah Granddad, get with the program!" Henry said laughing at David's surprise at his Mom's. Emma smiled shyly at her dad.

"I promise I haven't been keeping it from you, I all happened too fast, Mom and Henry only know cuz they had to help Regina find me," Emma said. David's face became even more surprised but not in a good way. He looked at Snow.

"Our Daughter went missing and you didn't tell me?" He said. Knowing his wife probably had a reason but he would have liked to of helped them find his daughter. Snow gave him a glare. 

"David I did call you but you hung up early because you got a call from someone else and never remembered to call back!" Snow said to him. David, embarrassed sipped his coffee his cheeks turning a little red.

"Um yeah, I... uh, think I remember that." He said then smiled apologetically to his wife. Snow chuckled then went to fetch the girls some coffee. They sat at the dinner table on the opposite side to Henry and David. Snow placed their mugs in front of them. They thanked her and Emma took a sip. She instantly regretted it.

"OW HOT! I'B BUMP MA TUMB" Emma said wincing a little. Regina raised her eyebrow at her. "What, it's really hot?" Emma said defensively. 

"You don't say," Regina said smirking at Emma, who pushed her lightly. "that's not the reason at all why I haven't tried mine yet" Regina mocked her lightly chuckling at Emma just pretended to sulk. "You look like Henry when you do that," Regina said and they all laughed as Henry made the same face to demonstrate. 

"So I have a day off today, plans?" David asked when everyone had finished. 

"I need to find my daughter and get her to trust me enough to talk," Regina said " Plan wise I am not sure what that entails, but I'm not giving up on her," Regina said her mind already working out a way to get her trust.

"I think she needs to see that you changed, I mean I didn't really believe it until I saw it," David said sipping from his mug. 

"THAT'S IT" Regina broke out making everyone jump. She didn't say anything, lost in thought.

"Gina?" Emma asked confused by her outburst. She tapped the Brunette's shoulder.

"Hu," Regina said coming out of her daydream.

"Care to explain what it is?" Emma said. Regina looked confused then suddenly realized what Emma was referring too.

"I need to have her, see me doing something good. She's not going to believe me straight away but after a while, she won't have a reason to not trust me at least a little. Perhaps, for now, you and Snow could go talk to her?" She said to David. If Aldara couldn't trust Snow White who would she trust?

"Sure Regina, I'm not sure how much she will listen to me though, our talk yesterday didn't seem too promising." Snow admitted remembering the woman's reaction to her. " She seems pissed that I forgave you." 

" I'm not sure about Mom and Dad going out there alone. She might not have hurt anyone yet but she might, I will go with them." Emma said.

"No your not going anywhere near her. I'm not letting her take you again" Regina said panicking at the prospect of Aldara hiding Emma again. Emma took Regina's hands in her own and made her look in her eyes.

"She won't be able to, You can teach me how to put the cuffs on her." Emma suggested " Without her magic, she might start to talk, she won't have it to hide behind. I made you talk didn't I who else would you open up to. The thing is I know how she feels mostly. I felt abandoned, lonely, angry. It took a woman who was paid to find me to put me jail for me to realize who I wanted to be, I think Aldara needs someone to show the way" Emma said trying to explain to Regina what might happen. 

"Mom I think I might stand a chance too. She is hurting and I'm her brother, I want to help her" He admitted even though Aldara had scared him a little.

"Maybe he is right," Emma said know there was no way Regina would let Henry go with them.

"I remember the way to where she is staying," Henry said knowing it might help. "Mom I can even take the storybook with me so she can read your story," Henry said getting up to fetch it.

"Won't that make it worse, that book makes me out to be some kind of monster!" Regina said having only read the worst parts of her story.

"No Mom it explains everything, Your story, Cora, Snow, Zelena. Some of it sure might be a little hard to get through when you know it actually happened but it will show her what you like before Daniel was killed. What you would have been like if Cora hadn't..." He trailed off knowing it still upset her.

" Your right Henry it might help," Regina said defeated. " I'm just going to go back to my house for a while.... to think," Regina said distantly. She poofed away. Emma sat there not knowing what to do. She wanted to drive to Regina's and talk to her but she knew she must need her space at the minute. " We need to find Aldara". The other three agreed they quickly got ready and drove to the old house. They got out the car and walked through the forest to the spot where Snow and Henry stood with Aldara. Henry shakily knocked the door. This time the door opened after a few minutes and revealed a fatigued-looking Aldara. 

"Do you people ever give in, what do you want?" She said her voice not holding its usual threatening tone. She just sounded annoyed and worn out. 

" We want to talk to you, could we come in?" Snow asked a little too politely. 

"Whatever" Aldara said walking off. The family stood there a few seconds. Henry just shrugged and walked in. The others followed him a little more wary than Henry. They all shuffled in. The inside was very Bohemian. None of the furniture matched but it all looked like it went together. There was a small set of stairs in the middle. On the left side was a small kitchen it had dark oak flooring and there were a small silver metal stove and a refrigerator. The counters were white with black marble tops. The wall was covered with posters, pictures, and souvenirs. Emma recognized a few of the people from various bands and movies.

Aldara's taste in music wasn't much different than Emma's. Also Regina's, who secretly liked Emma's music but had yet to admit that to Emma. Henry had told Emma he had once caught her listening to Beyonce in her office once when he had come in unexpectedly early. He hadn't mentioned it. He had, however, told Emma straight away, who at the time, had done a little victory dance.

"I like your place, is that a signed rolling stones poster?" Emma said getting closer to inspect the wall decorations. 

"Yeah, I went to their concert a few years ago and met them after," Aldara said in a cautious but tired voice.

" Me too, I couldn't afford the backstage pass though. These are incredible" She said in a daze.

"Yeah, I don't really stay in one place a lot," Aldara said plainly.

"Why's that?" Henry asked curiously. Aldara looked at him her face softened when she saw how trusting he was of her already. So she decided to talk a little about it.

" I have been trying to get to Storybrooke since I was 15. It's not been easy, but I finally got here." Aldara said. She walked into the front room. They followed her, The front room decorated similarly to the kitchen. There was an old worn patterned rug on the floor. On the one end of it was a small white sofa. A wooden chest/ table sat in the middle. There was a collection of guitars in the one corner. 

"Wow they're cool," Henry said excitedly as he quickly made his way over to them. " Which one is your favorite?" He asked innocently. Aldara was taken off guard by the family. They weren't as pushy as she had imagined them to be. She was expecting them to force feed her hope and goodness, instead, they were just chatting casually with her about her stuff. It had taken by surprise and she caught herself letting her guard down a little. 

"The hummingbird is the one I like to play the most. It's the one I learned to play on. I use it to write now mostly. The Goldtop Les Paul is my newest one. I play songs on it when I record or perform."She said knowing she might of just giving away too much.

"You sing?" Emma asked curious and fascinated. Maybe this would be easier than she thought. Aldara had seemed to calm down a little since their first meeting. Emma knew this would be her best chance at getting Aldara to talk properly with Regina, she just had to work it right.

"A little now and then, not as much as I'd like. It was something I loved to do since I was a kid," She said fondly looking at her guitars. "Anyway if you come here to soften me up, it won't work I don't have an issue with you and your family. Regina is the reason I'm here. She is the one that abandoned me, ruined my home and forced me to have to come to this place." Aldara said her voice starting to become more hostile than before.

" Calm down sweetie. We understand you are angry at Regina. We came here because we want you to see that Regina was a different person now. Since the curse, she had been pretty much isolated in the town. Of course, I'm not expecting you to feel sorry for her. She did cast the curse after all, but she adopted Henry and that soften her a little. A lot has happened since then. As Snow White, the Evil Queen's former victim I think I have to tell you she isn't the Evil Queen anymore. Sure she still struggles to fight the darkness and now and again she might relapse slightly, but she really is trying to rectify her past as much as she can. I think if you would give her a chance you will understand her and maybe even forgive her, which I know seems impossible right now. Just remember that she has a story too." Snow said she could see a similar look in her eyes as Emma had when the curse first broke. A mix of confusion and anxiety with a hint of betrayal.

"Why doesn't she remember me then, I mean shouldn't she know what she did?" Aldara said gritting her teeth. 

"We don't really know, we thought your neckless would work but it didn't" Emma explained. It had baffled her too. Usually, the token would work.

"So that's it then she won't remember me," Aldara asked a little upset. She couldn't understand why Regina not remembering, bother her so much. She had no idea before that Regina wouldn't remember her at all. She thought she would have recognized her after a while. She couldn't understand why Regina would have taken a potion to forget about her.

"No we aren't giving up we are going to try everything we can to help her remember, we just need your help. If you really want her to remember, your going to need to work with us." Snow said knowing Aldara was their only chance at Regina remembering anything about her. Something was bound to spark her memory at some point. She could see Aldara thinking it through. 

"If you talk to her about what you know maybe it will break the spell," Emma said knowing that wasn't what needed to happen. She knew Aldara wouldn't accept what actually could work at that point. That would be a work in progress.

" Do you really think she didn't want to abandon me... I mean she wasn't the nicest person back then," Aldara asked a timidly not sure what she wanted to do. He minds fighting against its self.

"I think I know my mom well enough to tell you, she secretly always wanted children. She took a potion after Snow's Dad died, so Cora couldn't force her to marry just to have an heir to the throne" Henry said not wanting to say too much knowing it was Regina's story to tell. Aldara looked thoughtful, She glanced back and forth between the four of them. 

"You know I think talking to Regina might clear somethings up for you. Henry brought our storybook with him. We thought you might want to learn some more about what has happened" David said. He had taken a seat back for a while but felt a little more comfortable now he knew Aldara was being calm with them.

" Could I see it?" She asked Henry, trying to fighting the against the anticipation that built up inside her. Henry pulled it from his bag. Aldara looked at him then at the book. She noticed that it looked old-fashioned and bulky. " I thought it would be..."

"Shorter?" Henry said knowing what she meant. " The story they have in this world are doctored versions of the truth. There is a lot they don't put in so it will seem more black and white than it actually is." Henry explained. He held out the book to her. Aldara took it from him gingerly. She held it, unsure what she wanted to do. She looked back at them. 

" I looked like that the first time Henry told me what it was" Emma stated. " It can seem like a lot."

" If you have any questions don't worry about asking us. Henry knows most of it, to be honest," David said smiling at Aldara who nodded then looked back at the book. 

"Do you mind if I borrow this?" Aldara asked Henry. 

"That's why I brought it with me, It helped almost everyone else," He said smiling brightly. 

" We'll leave it with you." Snow said knowing she would probably want time to read it.

" Could I have your guys numbers... In case I need to ask you anything. I mean I could just turn up but I think that might be a little rude." Aldara said smirking at the end. 

"Sure I'll give you mine and I'll give you the number you need," Emma said, She had almost everyone's number on file at the police station. She quickly noted her number down on a random piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to Aldara. 

"Thanks," Aldara said putting it in her pocket. "Do you guys want a drink or something before you go?" Aldara said not wanting to be rude to them after they'd just helped her.

" No we should be on our way, you have a lot of reading to catch up on." Snow said smiling at Aldara who nodded. The gang made their way out of Aldara's house. She walked them to the front door. They were about to walk away when Aldara stopped them.

"Um... Thanks for the book. If it's ok with Regina, I wouldn't mind her coming over. As long as Henry and Emma are with her. I guess it couldn't hurt to know what happened." Aldara admitted she didn't seem to convince it was a good idea but clearly, she wanted Regina to remember what happened.

" Sounds like a plan" Emma smiled at Aldara, she was happy that she had changed her mind about them.

"I think Mom will be ok with that" Henry said knowing that the news might make Regina feel a little better.

"I'll see you guys soon I guess," Aldara said. They all said goodbye to her and Snow had even hugged her. Emma could see it made Aldara uncomfortable. 

"Don't worry you get used to it," Emma said knowing what it was like. Aldara nodded. "Don't forget to message me so I have your number." Emma reminded her. They started walking back to the car.

"I think that went well," David said knowing it definitely could have been worse.

"Yeah, but it was just us, with Regina present it might be a little bit tenser," Emma noted. She knew how Regina could get and if anything Aldara had proven she has her mothers temper. 

"Maybe, but she has the book now, she might be a little more lenient if she knows what she could have been born into," Snow said she knew that it would have been a worse upbringing for Aldara if she would have stayed. Sure she would have been doted on and almost everything would have been done for her, but Cora would have ruined her and Regina had other plans. Regina would have only resented having a child, she had known what Cora was capable of making her into. 

"Let's just get home. I need to speak to Regina" Emma said a little anxious to talk to Regina about Aldara but she knew that Regina would be happy that she could talk to her. They all scrambled into the car. The drive back was quiet. Mary Margret had put the classical station on, Henry and Emma rolled their eyes at each other when she started to hum along.

When they got back Emma got straight into the Bug. Henry had wanted to go with her but she knew Regina wouldn't want him to be there just yet. She pulled away after quickly saying goodbye. She made her way to the Major's house. Her hands were sweating on the steering wheel. She knew this conversation might be difficult, Regina's exit this morning had told her what mood she was in. 

Once she got to the house she parked out the front and walked as calmly as she could to the door. She knocked it and stood back. She fidgeted nervously on the spot. Regina pulled the door open. She makes up looked intact and her clothes fresh on. Emma knew Regina better than to think she hadn't been upset this morning. 

"Hi" Emma began not knowing what to say.

"Emma?" Regina said. " How did it go, you've been haven't you?" Regina asked her voice giving away her inner panic. Emma smiled at her.

"How long have you been waiting for me to get back?" Emma said knowing that Regina would have been pacing around whilst they were going to talk to Aldara. Regina gave Emma a glare.

"Seriously?" Regina said impatiently to find out what had happened.

"Ok, ok let me get a cup of coffee first," Emma said walking into Regina's house.

"Please come in," Regina said sarcastically as Emma walked passed her.

" Where do you keep your good coffee again?" Emma asked ignoring her comment.

"Top shelf of the cupboard, right at the back of the tin. When was it ok for you to invite yourself in?" Regina said irritated. Emma who was reaching for the coffee looked back at her.

"Since you started to take so long to invite me into your house," Emma said and grinned at her. Regina shook her head and went to get herself a cup.

"I already got your cup," Emma said pointing to it on the side.

"Oh um... thank you," Regina said a little shocked Emma knew what mug she preferred.

"Well, I did practically live here for a while, remember?" Emma said as she put the coffee in the machine to brew. She turned to face Regina. She pulled her into a hug. "How are you doing?" She asked noticing Regina's sober face.

"Better if you would tell me about today," Regina mumble into Emma's Jacket.

"Give me a minute, It might be a long story," Emma said wanting to be sat down before she started. Regina nodded into her shoulder.

"Did it at least go well?" She said just wanting to calm her racing mind for a second.

"Better than I think we all thought it would" Emma reassured her.

"Good," Regina said sighing a little in relief. Emma nodded. 

"Yeah I think you will like the outcome, our son is a god sent" Emma chuckled lightly.

"I knew that," Regina said. as she smiled to herself.


	14. Pizza

Emma and Regina were both cuddled up on the sofa watching TV. They had brought their coffee in there a while ago, neither one of them had said anything yet. They were just glad to have time together alone. They had a lot to talk about but neither one wanted to break the silence, both of the content to just sit there in the quite for a while. Regina couldn't wait any longer, she really wanted to know what had happened with Aldara.

Emma had her back against the arm of the sofa and Regina was lent on her, from her position Regina turned to face Emma. She studied the blond's face who was watching some talent show on the television.

"You know the girl can sing, she just isn't moving... like at all. It's kinda creepy." Emma said clearly distracted by the show.

"Emma, can we talk about today?" Regina said. She was starting to become a little tired. Stressing and pacing her house most of the day had worn her out. Emma looked at her and kissed her forehead. Regina closed her eyes for a second. "Seriously, because it's starting to worry me"

Emma nodded and yawned, stretching. " Henry was the one who knocked the door, he seemed pretty sure of himself, more so than us adults. Aldara answered she looked tired. She was annoyed we came but she let us in, which I thought was odd. Her house is tiny it had two floors but she didn't invite us upstairs. It was pretty cool though, her taste in music is good."

"Emma what did you talk about?" Regina said loving the story but just really wanted to know what had gone on. Emma rolled her eyes playfully and tutted.

"Well, If you don't want to know she owns a Goldtop Les Paul, that your loss," Emma said. Regina gave her a bewildered look. She had no idea what Emma had just said.

"What's that?" Regina asked. She wasn't all knowing, there where still things she hadn't bothered to learn, just because they didn't seem relevant. Usually, those where the things Emma talked about. She would always show her what they were after and ply her with ample facts.

"It's a guitar, she writes and sings her own music," Emma said excitedly.

Regina's face lit up. She was suddenly very proud of the daughter she hadn't known about a few days ago. It was a strange feeling but Regina liked it. She didn't know what would happen with Aldara. She just hoped what Emma had done today would be enough.

"That's...That's incredible. I'm just worried that when I discover what I did, it will be too much and might end up ruining everything, I know how I was back then, I'm not sure how I would have taken to being pregnant, it wasn't exactly on my to-do list at the time ." Regina said she knew the Evil Queen was capable of doing something very irrational and dangerous, especially if it was going to hurt Cora.

" I'm sure it will all be fine, we chatted for a bit. I just asked her a few questions about her stuff, she had signed posters. She even had a Joan Jett poster. I mean you love Joan Jett." Emma said knowing t would make Regina smile. The first song Regina listen to was ' I Hate Myself For Loving You' by Joan Jett and The Black Hearts. Emma really had thought Regina would be offended by the loud music, but when she had popped the song on in her car one day by accident thinking there was a different cd in the player.

She had gone to switch it off but Regina had stopped her. Given her a glare and then turned it up. Emma surprised but wasn't going to take the golden moment for granted. She began to rock out in the car. Regina just raised an eyebrow at her dancing... the first time.

Emma had from then on continued to play different songs she liked to Regina. Who slowly started to join in Emma's dancing as long as they were out of sight from everyone else. Never wanting everyone else in town to see her jiggling about in the car with Emma, looking like they had lost all sense but having a great time.

"So maybe we like some of the same things then, that's good, a common ground," Regina said smirking a little. Emma chuckled.

"Yeah, she seemed a lot less scary this time. I mean she was nice to us, to Henry at the very least. I think she's even starting to trust him. That's what I meant earlier, if it wasn't for him today I don't think it would have gone so well." Emma said proudly of her son. Regina smiled at her goofy grin.

"How'd he do it?" Regina asked wanting to know what Henry had done to make Aldara talk to them all.

"Snow and I had tried to talk to her, but she kept getting angry. Then Henry said that he knew you well enough to know that you wouldn't have done what you did if you didn't have a good reason. He went on to explain a little about your story, mostly Cora and David. Aldara seemed to want to know more. Henry has given her the book to read. I was just as surprised at him trusting her as I was at her trusting him. That boy is unbelievably brave." Emma said. Regina smiled to herself.

"That's how I raised him, though I think you did your part also." Regina turned so her arms were around Emma.

"She asked for my number, just in case she had a question for anyone. Then when we were about to leave she said she wouldn't mind you coming over to talk, as long as Henry and I came along as well," Emma said. Regina looked at her stunned. She turned back to face away from Emma, whilst she collected her thoughts.

"So you think she really wants to talk to me?" Regina asked. Unsure about Aldara's sudden change of behavior. She knew it could all be a trap.

"She seemed sincere enough to me," Emma said knowing what Regina was thinking. " I think meeting Rumple and his little gang of friends showed her what playing with the darkness get you."

"You think so? I don't know Emma, if it was me it would be a trick" Regina said, she had done this to people before.

"Regina, Aldara isn't you. She hasn't completely turned dark. I doubt she has ever hurt anyone before she hurt Henry. To me, she just seemed more confused than anything else. She's followed you around as the Evil Queen but that's the only part she knows about. Now she has the book, she can learn your story, all of our stories. It's up to her to choose to trust you." Emma said. Regina shuffled, uncomfortable with the situation.

"I don't think it will be enough, it doesn't say much in there about how I grew up, it's just odd snippets." Regina started to think about her next meeting with Aldara. She just couldn't see it going well. " I'll meet her when she has finished the book. That way she will know about most of it" Regina said sadly. She didn't want to meet her now, just in case she changed her mind halfway through. " For now I'll just try and find a way to remember what happened"

She glanced at Emma who looked apprehensive. She didn't know how Regina would take her new speculation. She coughed, uncomfortable under Regina's stare.

"What?" Regina asked, Emma, squirmed restlessly. Regina raised an eyebrow, as she stared at Emma, waiting for an answer.

"So um... I think I've worked out what will get your memory back. It might seem impossible at the moment, but I know if anyone can make it happen it's you." Emma said skirting around the subject.

"Just say it already," Regina said impatiently. Even if this idea was far-fetched, it was an idea.

"I think you to have to get along and become a family. I think that if you grow to love each other. The true love magic should make you remember what happened. I know it sounds a little... iffy, I haven't worked out the kinks in the theory yet. The thought just popped into my head when I was with Aldara." Emma said as she watched Regina's face closely, trying to gauge her reaction. She looked pensive at first, it soon switched to relief and then finally she was wavering between hope and apprehension. Emma could see Regina was doubting herself. Regina had a lot of people who she had loved that used it as a weapon against her, because of this she always struggled to believe anyone could love her sincerely.

"I don't know Emma, I'm not exactly the type of person, people warm up to fast. I not sure what I should do, what I could do, to make everything ok with her." Regina said becoming stressed, she stood up and took their cups off the side to make a fresh drink. Emma followed her, she watched silently as Regina made them coffee, trying to hide the fact that she was panicking from Emma. It wasn't working Emma could see her hand shaking as she poured milk into the cups and stirred them.

She walked up behind her and delicately took the spoon from Regina, who dropped her hand down to her side. Emma wrapped her free arm around her waist and rested her chin on her shoulder.

"So I have to meet her before she finishes the book," Regina said defeated, She took a shaky breath. "What am I going to do Emma," Regina said dejectedly. She lent back into the blond.

"Just be yourself, trust me, everything will work out," Emma said, knowing she might just be being optimistic, but someone had to be. Regina sighed and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"Come on let text Mary Margret to bring Henry home. I order us pizza. You go get into some pajamas, we'll all snuggle up and watch a film of your choice. Regina didn't reply she just turned around and hugged Emma tightly.

"I love you" Regina whispered softly. Emma couldn't help the smile that came to her face at Regina's words.

"I love you too," Emma said. Regina lifted her head so she could catch her with a soft kiss.

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Snow was stood in the kitchen washing up. Henry and David had gone out to the shops. She was rolling over the recent events in her head. It was a lot to take in but the thing she was most concerned about was Emma and Regina. She knew they were good together but what would happen if it didn't work out. She heard her phone buzz behind her on the breakfast bar. She dried her hands with a tea towel and picked it up. She opened the text from Emma:

Hey, Mom, everything is okay, I talked to Regina and she knows what Aldara said. I think we are going to have a quiet night though so do you mind dropping Henry of whenever you can.

She quickly texts back:

That's great news, I will get David to drop him off, they just went to the shop.

She sent the message, She called David knowing he was more likely to answer her that way, he still hadn't picked up texting that well. She waited for him to pick up.

"Hey Snow, Did you forget something?" He asked worriedly, his list was already pretty long. She chuckled knowing the face he would be pulling.

"No David, Emma just called and asked if we could drop Henry off at Regina's" Snow said knowing what he was going to ask next.

"Is she sleeping over there too?" David said warily.

"I think so, it's not like Emma hasn't stayed over Regina's before." Snow said remembering when her daughter had stayed with Regina and Henry when they were Ill"

"Yeah, but won't it be different now?" He said he was still unsure about his daughter dating the Evil Queen. Snow sighed.

"I don't know David, to be honest, it's not our business," She said, he husband had a knack for worrying about things he couldn't control. He sighed.

"I know Snow but aren't you a little bit concerned, I mean I know Emma and Regina have come far but I didn't think they were that close. When did it all happen" David said clearly he had been bottling up his thoughts on the subject for a while.

"Yes and no, it all depends on them and how they deal with there issues. As far as when it happened, your guess is as good as mine." Snow said. She knew they could be a little overprotective of Emma, their intentions were always good but didn't always end well. Snow had learned it was best to just let Emma work things out herself. If they pushed too hard on the subject they might end up pushing her away.

"Maybe your right, I guess we will find out when Emma is ready to tell us," David said sighing after. Snow smiled glad he was on the same page as her.

"I'll drop Henry off at Regina's after we are finished. Is it alright if I get some snacks for him to share with them? I think the kid deserves a treat" David said looking at Henry who was looking at the magazines.

"Sure why not, he definitely does. Without him there today I think we might have had a hard time with Aldara." Snow said, her grandson had been wondering that morning. unlike the adults he had gone into the situation, thinking positively and it had paid off.

"Ok, I better leave you to it, love you" Smiling to herself.

"I'll be back soon, just finishing up here, love you too Snow" David chuckled and ended the call. Neil who had been sleeping after a busy day with Grannie woke up and began whimpering. Snow went over to her son and picked him up. She balanced him on her hip and took him into the kitchen. She kept him occupied with silly noises as she heated up a bottle for him.

" Drink up my little prince, one you'll grow up to be like your Daddy" Snow cooed to her son. She went to sit down on the sofa with him, whilst he had his bottle. Once she was finished she put him on his play mat whilst she got her own drink from the kitchen. She grabbed it and then sat on the sofa. She watched her son, amused, as he played with the toys dangling above him.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

David and Henry had finished at the shop and David was driving Henry back to Regina's. He looked over to Henry and saw the boy glancing out of the window, he looked like he was deep in thought.

"What you thinking about?" He asked making Henry jump a little. He giggled then straightened himself out. He turned to face his grandad.

"I was just wondering, now my moms are together, will we all live in Mom's house?" He asked, he didn't know how it all would work but he knew it would be nice to live with the both of them together.

"I'm not sure, maybe, I think you should talk to them about it," David said. Henry smiled and nodded.

" Yeah maybe, I'm just glad they are getting along," Henry said. He thought back to the time when they were always at each other's throats. He would always have to choose between them before, now they could do stuff together. He smiled as they pulled up in front of the house. Henry enthusiastically jumped from the car. He jogged up to the gate and opened it. David got out and followed him in. He could see Emma talking to a delivery boy. She handed him some money and took the pizzas from him. Henry ran up to Emma as the guy walked away.

"Hey Mom, yes pizza," Henry said opening the top box and grabbing a slice. He walked off to put his things in his room.

"Hey, Emma" David said awkwardly. " I bought some junk food for the three of you. Henry picked it out so most of it's chocolate." David said chuckling at Henry's sweet tooth.

"Good boy, I taught him well. Thank's Dad this is incredible. Emma smiled at him. Regina came down the stair in a pair of pajamas. She noticed Emma holding the pizza. She snuck up behind her and before Emma noticed her, she stole a slice. Emma saw just as Regina took her hand out of the box. Regina grinned at her.

"I saw that," Emma said as Regina retreated into the front room.

"You didn't see anything," Regina said poking her head around the door frame. Emma walked up to her and handed Regina the boxes, which the brunette balance perfectly on one arm whilst she took a bite of her own piece. Before she had time to drop her hand, Emma quickly took a small bite from it. She had tried to be careful about it but ended up getting sauce on her face.

" Yum," Emma said with a full mouth. She tried her best to wipe it off but she still had someone her nose.

"You shouldn't talk and eat at the same time, especially in polite company," Regina said in a sarcastic regal voice, getting the remainder of sauce of Emma's nose with her finger.

"You shouldn't steal pizza from my box when I'm not looking," Emma said after she had swallowed.

"Well it's pizza, you should expect it, Swan," Regina said. She kissed Emma's cheek lightly and went to put the Pizza on the coffee table.

Emma watched as she walked away, a dopey smile on her face. David coughed to grab her attention. She jumped a little before turning to David, a little embarrassed.

"So you and Regina, how is it going, are you to serious?" David asked, to curious for his own good sometimes. Luckily it paid off because Emma just smiled at him. He handed her the bag of snacks, which she took gratefully.

"Thank you for all of this, it's much need. Regina and I are amazing, I don't think either of us imagined it would happen, It just kind of did," Emma said. David smiled back at his daughter. He had never seen her so happy before. It was like Regina was a missing part of her puzzle, and she had finally found her.

"How did it happen?" David asked not knowing if it had been a recent thing or if it had happened a while back, they just hadn't noticed because of everything that was going on.

"I think this might be a long conversation. How about you and Mom come around tomorrow and we can all talk it over." Emma said. She knew her parents were just looking out for her. They might still be wary of her and Regina getting together.

"That sounds great Emma, we will be here sometime before lunch," He said he smiled. "I'll get going now, Snow's making spaghetti for dinner, It's one of her best dishes. I always grab seconds" David said.

"Bye Dad, I'll message you tomorrow about you coming over," Emma smiled. He walked to his car and waved goodbye to Emma, who waved back and got in his car. Emma closed the door and went into the front room. Regina had gotten them plates and sauces from the kitchen and had set the table up, ready for them to eat. Regina was bringing in glasses for their drinks when Emma walked

"Hey look what I scored," Emma said holding up the bag. " David just brought over a load of junk for us." She placed the bag near the leg of the coffee table.

"That's going to make Henry hyper before bed," Regina said forever the doting mother.

"Yeah but I think he deserves a bit of a sugar high, the Poor kid doesn't get much time to be a kid at the moment," Emma said. She fell down onto the sofa ungracefully.

"Would you be more gentle please, those couches are worth more than your car?" Regina said sitting next to her. Emma wrapped one arm around the brunette shoulders. Regina grabbed Emma's free hand and played with her fingers.

"David asked me how we got together before he left, I told him that he and Snow could come around tomorrow so we can chat. I just didn't know what to say, it's not like we saw it all happening. It just crept up on us." Emma said talking about it had been awkward. She needed Regina there as a buffer.

"Hmmm... I think it was better that way, we didn't fight it as much. I think we are more relaxed because we didn't force it. I'm not sure what to tell them though. I guess I realized I liked you when you turned up with the bag of medicine. I don't think I had ever had someone bring me something in the middle of the night before. It made me realize you weren't like everyone else before, who I thought was helping me. You genuinely cared for me." Regina said she smiled whilst she looked at their hands.

" I only noticed because I realized I was attracted to you. It was startling at first but I slowly worked I was into you." Emma said. She entwined their fingers. " I want you to know Regina, I am serious about us. I don't usually feel this comfortable around the person I'm dating. Normally I would feel so self-conscious that I'd wake up early just to brush my teeth. Even with Neil, it was never this easy. Hook always left me feeling like I'd done something I would regret" Emma said. She still hadn't broken the news to the pirate. That had gone on a few dates, even if they were a little strange. She had enjoyed herself but at that point, she hadn't really noticed Regina.

Her and Hook had been getting close when Regina had fallen Ill. But he hadn't come around a lot to see her at all then. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time she had seen him. Everything had been so bazar lately that she had completely forgotten everything else that had been happening.

"Hook?" Regina said feeling a little hurt Emma hadn't said anything to her about him.

"Well, you've been off galavanting with Robin Hood. He was a good distraction. I think I might have been starting to like him, we been on a few dates, this was all before I realized my feelings for you, mind. I haven't seen him in a while though. He took a step back because I was looking after you and your not exactly his biggest fan." Emma said she knew to tell him was going to be rough.

"Why didn't you say anything," Regina said getting a little angry at Emma hiding her relationship with Hook. "Don't you think that might have been good to tell me before all this?" Regina said pulling away from Emma, who was shocked at Regina's reaction.

"I know I should have said something but I didn't really know what to say to you. I wasn't sure if it all myself. I mean he can be a right ass at times. You already knew that he liked me, plus I haven't really thought about him, I 've been more focused on you." Emma said getting a little edgy. She really didn't want to fight with Regina, She didn't think about Hook until a few minutes ago, he hadn't even crossed her mind this entire time. Regina calmed herself down a little. She knew that it had all been hectic lately they had only just managed to fight off Snow Queen's curse. Aldara had come at a weirdly peaceful time. Rumble had just left and everything was turning back to normal after the shatter sight broke.

"So he has no idea about me either! Emma you need to talk to him, he deserves that much at least" Regina said she hadn't even noticed Emma getting closer to Hook she was always wrapped up in something else. She started to feel guilty for taking Emma from the pirate. Emma had point though neither of them had planned it. Hook wasn't going to take the news well.

" No," Emma said warily. " I will talk to him soon, I just know it isn't going to go well" She admitted. Regina sighed, she knew the pirate well enough to agree with Emma, the only problem was, what would the pirate do when he does know. He turned from the darkness because of Emma. Maybe this might reverse it all. He would be back to square one or worse with a vendetta out for Regina.

" I think you right, but there's nothing we can do about it. We will just have to be prepared for whatever he throws at us" Regina said quietly. She lent back to Emma again. Henry came into the room wearing Batman pajamas, carrying a DVD from his room.

"Can we watch this Moms, pretty please?" he said holding out Shrek in front of him.

"It's alright with me kid, My Queen?" She said turning her head to look at Regina.

"Are you kidding Henry. Put it in already" Regina said smiling at him. Shrek had been the first movie she had gotten for Henry. She liked that it made fun of their world. The fact the king was so tiny, the donkey could talk, and the fun score meant her and Henry had been hooked from the get-go.

Henry giggle and went to put it on. He came back and sat next to Regina and Emma who had just grabbed some pizza. He grabbed his own slice and pressed play. Regina pulled him into their cuddle as they watched the ogre and talking donkey look for Princess Fiona.

"I wish there was a talking donkey" Henry voiced. Emma and Regina both turned at the same time to give him a puzzled look.

"I don't think that would be as awesome as you think it will be, kid," Emma said imagining a real donkey that could talk.

"I think Emma's right Henry, I think it might be a little annoying," Regina said. Emma nodded, in agreement with her. Horrified even a little by a talking donkey.

"Ah come on he's hilarious, I mean he talks and sings...and his marriage to a dragon. How much cooler of a pet could you ask for." Henry said grinning at them.

" Na kid, I'll take a parrot over a donkey any day and to be honest almost any other talking animal, excluding anything that wants to eat me," Emma said.

"How about that dog on 'UP', he's adorable, I'd have him" Regina suggested."Maybe... if I could take the collar off once in a while."

"That could be fun, what about Garfield?" Emma said. "Cat that loves lasagna, living with the woman who loves making lasagna. It's like you were made for each other." She chuckled when Regina gave her a glare.

"No, that cat is trouble, I have enough of that as it is," Regina said. " K-9?" She suggested shouted. Emma and Henry jumped a little.

"K-9!" Emma and Henry said at the same time.

"Yes he's perfect, he's useful, we don't have to feed him and he doesn't poop," Henry said giggling.

"Yeah plus it would mean the doctor actually existed, I have to be honest after watching the first season, he looks like he would be an interesting guy to have around," Emma said. Once they had finished with their pizza, they watched the remainder of the film, all snuggled up on the couch.

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Snow must have been sat there a while because before she knew it David was back. He had come through the door quietly, thinking his son was in bed. When he spotted Snow and Neil by the sofa, he came to sit next to his wife. He put its arm around her and she lent into him.

"I don't know how long I've been sat here. I fed him and drank my coffee and I was caught up in watching him play with the toys." Snow murmured tiredly.

"mmm... it is adorable though. He really likes the little bird one you got him." David whispered back. They watched as their son got tired and Snow placed him back in his crip.

"Do you think Emma would have been this easy when she was a baby?" David asked his wife. She looked up, from the crib where she was tucking Neil in. She looked pensive and looked back to Neil.

"No I think she would have been a lot harder, she has both of our stubborn streaks. I think Neil is more like you" Snow said she looked back at her husband who was smiling at her.

"That might be so but he still has your chin," David said. He pulled Snow into a hug. Snow smiled, content. She loved her family, even Regina. She knew now after many years of fighting that her and Regina weren't that different. They could confide in each other and understand things that maybe other's wouldn't.

"How did Emma and Regina seem?" Snow asked. David smiled a little.

"I don't think we have anything to worry about," David said confidently it would all be ok.

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Emma was awoken by the sound coming from the tv. Regina and Henry were fast asleep. Regina was laid against Emma and Henry was cuddled into her. It was adorable, to say the least. Emma quickly and as silently as she could, grabbed her phone up off the table and snapped a picture of them. She quickly set the best picture as her screensaver. She chuckled to herself then glanced at the time on her phone. It was ten at night, she should probably be heading back to Snow's apartment. She gently shook Regina trying to wake her up. The brunette didn't budge.

"Seriously, Regina...Regina... GINA!" she shouted. Regina jumped away, then hit Emma on the arm when she realized that Emma was the one shouting her name.

"What the hell Emma, you trying to kill me?" She said in a startled voice, a few octaves higher than it usually was.

"Ha, with looovveee" Emma giggled. " No I just thought you might want to head to bed, it's ten and Henry has school ect..ect..." Emma said knowing Regina liked to stick to a routine.

" Oh well, thank you, that was nice," Regina said smiling at Emma, she tapped Henry's shoulder to wake him. He woke instantly, unlike his mother, he looked up at them and smiled sleepily.

"Time for bed my little Prince. We have a big day ahead of us" Regina said contemplating how tomorrow might go. He nodded and kissed her cheek. "Night Mom" He stood up slowly and hugged Emma. "Night Mom".

" Night Henry" Emma said kissing his forehead. He stood up straight a little sluggishly and drowsily made his way to his room.

" He's tired bless him," Regina said watching as her son left the room, facing back to look at Emma. Emma yawned just as their eyes made contact. "You're tired too," She said, she laughed a lightly when Emma nodded her head slowly.

"Come on, let's go to bed," Regina said standing up and brushing her clothes straight.

"Your bed?" Emma asked not wanting to get it wrong. Regina nodded. Emma smiled at her and grabbed her waist from where she was standing beside her. Regina lent down and kissed her, letting her lips linger before pulling away slightly. " I get the right side" She whispered to her.

" Yes, Madam Major" Emma said standing up and putting her arms around Regina's shoulders. Regina moved her hands so they were around the blond's waist. The kissed once more and then holding her hand Emma slowly led them upstairs to Regina's room.

Once inside the room, Regina walked over to the dresser to find Emma something to wear. Emma sat on the end of the bed patiently, not having had been in this position for a long time, she wasn't sure what she should do. Regina handed her an old Storybrooke baseball T-shirt and some shorts.

" That's the only thing I have, that I think you will be comfortable in," Regina said as Emma took them from her.

"This is great thank you, I didn't figure you a baseball fan?" Emma said amused by Regina's T-shirt.

" I got it when Henry used to play. He was only there for three games but I had bought his and mine at the same time, so now I haven't got a use for it. I forgot it was even in there until now. He was eight at the time, he wanted to make some friends. Sadly no one would talk to him because I was his mother and Major. He didn't even get picked to play. I know for a fact he could. I had been practicing with him, he's always been a bit of a perfectionist. Probably my doing, but he has enough of you in him to make sure he had a streak of rebellion." Regina said. Emma smiled at the story, picturing a tiny determined Henry with a big bat as Regina threw a ball at him to try and hit.

"I bet he was amazing, how come he won't play now?" Emma asked she had noticed that even though the curse was broken, Henry still didn't have many friends his own age. He didn't even go to any after school club anymore.

"I'm not sure, I'm guessing the kids are more terrified of him than before. Now he has two Mom's, One's the Ex-Evil Queen, the other is the savior. I think we need to help him, at least make the kid's feel like they can talk and be friends with him. " Regina said sad Henry still hadn't made any friends, she blamed herself. Before Emma got there, Regina would go through the school's files on any child Henry would talk to. She had always found a reason to make them retreat. She just didn't want Henry trusting someone who might ultimately hurt him. She knew now that was just a part of life and she had to loosen her grasp on her son a little.

"I have an idea but you will have to wait and see what it is," Emma said grinning. " Should I get changed the bathroom?" Emma asked unsure whether they were at the stage of undressing in front of each other. Her cheeks turned a little red

"I think for now it might be best, feel free to use the shower...not that you smell or anything...I just know you like my shower" Regina said. She giggled seeing Emma's cheeks turn rose pink. Emma laughed awkwardly and walked to the bathroom closing the door slightly behind her

Regina climbed into her side of the bed. She pulled her book out from her desk drawer and read it whilst Emma showered and dressed. Half an hour, a couple chapter's in her book later, Emma came out of the bathroom. Her hair was in a towel but she was dressed.

" Do you have a hairdryer. I don't want to get your pillows damp. It makes them smell funny the next night" Emma said remembering when she had been too lazy many times before and gone to bed with wet hair only to wake up with a damp pillow. She would leave it to dry and go to sleep on it the next night with it smelling a little rough. Regina pointed to her wardrobe, eyes still on her book. Not having looked up once.

"Top shelf on the right," Regina said, distracted by the novel she was reading. Emma nodded and went to get it. She plugged it in and started to dry her hair, she noticed Regina hadn't looked up from the book she was reading.

"What ya reading?" Emma asked in a playful manner. Regina finally lifted her eyes from the page.

"Oh sorry" realizing how engrossed she had been in the book. " It's called 'I Let You Go' by Clare Mackintosh. It's got me hooked. I'd forgotten I had started reading it a while ago. I had to go back and re-read it again, but it's really good, now I don't think I can put it down." Regina said smiling at Emma.

"What's it about?" Emma asked curiously, she never seen Regina reading, but she guessed the Queen did it quite a bit. Otherwise, her library in her house would be a waste of a good space.

" Why don't you read it when I'm done. I think you will like it. It's written by an ex-police officer. She was an officer for eleven years, then left to become a journalist. The book is based off a crime she had investigated and her own experiences. it's not a happy book but it definitely a well-written book" Regina said mulling the story over in her head.

" Might just take you up on that offer?" Emma said. " Do you mind if I read the blurb?"

Regina shook her head and put her bookmark into her page and handed it to Emma. She turned it over and read the word on the back. "Yeah I'm borrowing this after," She said handing it back to Regina who put it back into her draw. She tapped the empty side of the bed.

"Coming to bed dear?" She asked Emma who was just putting her hair into a messy bun. Emma just climbed on to the bed and hovered over her for a few seconds. She kissed her lightly and then fell on to her side.

" You know your bed is a whole lot more comfortable than mine." Emma declared as she ran her hand over the soft sheets.

" I don't sleep well, I find they help me to drop off a little better," Regina admitted, remembering when she had brought a few when she first got them, she had liked the color. She found that she was more relaxed than in her bed in the castle. They were made of the finest fabric's in the kingdom, but Regina found them to rather uncomfortable, never able to completely drift off.

" Maybe you just sleep better in Storybrooke, away from the Enchanted Forest. I mean this place isn't a haven, but it's definitely an improvement on your last home. " Emma said understanding why Regina would feel safer here.

"Perhaps, I still think part of it's the sheets. I used to set Henry down on them when he was a baby, whilst I would catch up on some work in bed on a Sunday, and he would always fall asleep." She loved thinking about Henry when he was younger. At the time she had always been stressing over handling everything and getting used to being a mother, but after a while, she started to enjoy it all. By the time Emma had turned up, she had pretty much had her and Henry's routine down to an art.

Now their routine wasn't exactly the same but she would go back to it when she could. At first, she was flustered when Emma had just turned up and flipped her life upside down. She had felt angry that something she had taken pride in was ruined. She slowly but surely got used to Emma's impulsive lifestyle. With everything that had happened to them, Regina now wouldn't live without Emma, but she still was getting used to how her life could just change in an instant. She thought by now everyone in Storybrooke had experienced something similar.

Regina noticed Emma yawn again.

"Come on let's get some sleep, I'm knackered and we have Snow and David coming over tomorrow. I was thinking maybe they should come over for dinner and Henry can be there too." Emma said as she lay down and held her arm out so Regina could cuddle into her side.

"Night Gina" Emma whispered to her. Regina smiled at her sleepily.

"Love you, Swan," Regina said back and then kissed her goodnight.

"I love you too" Emma breathed out, inches from her lips. They kissed passionately for a few moments before finally falling peacefully asleep in each other's arms.


	15. Let's go for a drive

Regina woke up before Emma, their limbs tangled together during the night. She so comfortable she didn't want to move, but she had too. Henry had to get up for school, which meant Regina had to go and wake him up and make him breakfast. She delicately unwrapped herself from Emma's embraced. Emma groaned in her sleep and opened her eyes and pulled Regina back into her.

"Stay" Emma mumbled tiredly. Regina chuckled at her as Emma lay her head on Regina's stomach and she had wrapped her arms around Regina's middle. The brunette lay still for a while and cuddled her back. She sighed knowing she had to get up before she made Henry late for school.

"You're going to have to let me go, Sweetie, I need to wake our son up for school" She whispered to Emma. Emma flipped her head on her stomach so she was facing her. She looked up at Regina and pouted.

"I know, but if I don't get him up now, he won't get to the bus in time," Regina said as she brought her hand up to Emma's face and stroked her cheek lightly with her thumb. Emma nuzzled her cheek into Regina's palm.

"Ok but after he's gone we are watching Doctor Who," Emma said as she disentangled herself from Regina and sat up on her side of the bed " Oh, could I borrow some clothes. I forgot to bring any with me, my stuff from yesterday doesn't smell so fresh. Or maybe it's too fresh" Emma said laughing at her own joke. Regina rolled her eyes, she lent over and went to lightly kiss Emma, who took advantage of the moment and deepened the kiss. She pulled Regina so the brunette was straddling her.

"Emma, I have stuff I need to do," Regina said in protest against Emma's lips. Emma just groaned into her lips and released her from her grasp.

"Spoilsport" Emma said then childishly poked her tongue out at Regina who just chuckled and went to get her son up for school.

She walked into Henry's bedroom to find in fast asleep on his bed his leg and arm dangling off the side. She crept up to him and crouched down beside him, then shook him to wake him.

"Darling, you need to get ready for school now," Regina whispered as Henry's eyes opened. She brushed his hair from his eyes and kissed his forehead before standing up and holding a hand out to him. He grabbed it and stood up. He rubbed his eyes then followed Regina to the kitchen to eat his breakfast. He walked sluggishly to a stool and sat on it. Regina fetched him a bowl and his favorite cereal from the cupboard. She made him a cup of tea whilst making herself and Emma a strong coffee. She placed the milk by his bowl when she had finished with it along with his Mario mug.

"Thank mom," He said smiling at her sleepily. He poured his cereal into his bowl and put a little bit of milk on it. He grabbed his spoon and quickly dug in enthusiastically. Emma walked into the kitchen a few seconds later, dressed in some of Regina's more relaxed clothing.

"Hey kid," Emma said taking a seat next to him.

"Morning Mum," He said with a mouthful of cereal.

"Henry, never talk with your mouth open," Regina said placing Emma's coffee on the table in front of the blond. He swallowed his cereal quickly.

"Yes Mom," He said smiling at her as innocently as he could

"How could you stay mad with that face," Emma said looking at Henry, then back to Regina. Regina just raised an eyebrow and sipped her own coffee. She went to the cupboard and pulled out a box of pop tarts.

"You still have a few left from when you stayed here last," Regina said giving the box to Emma. She took them from Regina with a large grin on her face.

"Hello, my little friends," Emma said putting the box to her face and stroking it with her hand. Regina stared at her like she had grown another head. " Don't judge me?" Emma said holding the pop tart to her chest like they were gold.

"You have a really unhealthy relationship to a cracker with icing on," Regina said not getting at all how much Emma loved pop tarts.

"How dare you speak ill of my pop tarts, I'll have you know they are made with delicious pastry, wrapped around a sugary filling, with icing spread over the top. They are a work of culinary art." Emma said defending her favorite thing to have for breakfast. Regina just rolled her eyes. Emma got up and went to put one in the toaster.

"So Mom's what's your plan for today?" Henry asked he wanted to know if Regina had decided to go and talk to Aldara or not.

"Well your grandparent's might be coming around for dinner, we might think about going to see Aldara, I might just text her to check if it's still ok," Emma said, she wanted Regina and Aldara to get to know each other better but she didn't want to push them both.

"So you want to talk with her Mom?" Henry asked Regina who looked a little uneasy.

"Maybe, I mean I'm not a hundred percent sure that it will make a difference though," Regina said doubting herself again.

"It will be fine Mom, Aldara actually isn't as bad as she lets on. It's more of a defense mechanism." Henry said. Both his moms looked at him taken back by the boy's insight.

"So she act's angry with Regina because she is trying to protect herself, I guess that makes sense, Regina would do the same thing." Emma agreed and so did Regina, even if she didn't want to admit it.

"Exactly, Mom you just need to prove you won't hurt her again," Henry said to Regina who was listening to her son intently. Regina nodded thoughtfully.

"Perhaps your right, I mean I let my guard down with Emma after I realized she was just trying to help me be a better person. It took you being taken from me to realize who I wanted to be." Regina admitted, she hoped Aldara would be more easily convinced.

"See, You can do it, Mom, you just need to be yourself with her and she will soon warm up to you," Henry said, knowing that his Mom may doubt herself sometimes, but at heart, she was a passionate, strong and resilient woman. He knew those were quality's that made Regina who she was, it also made her a good friend and mother.

" Ok, I will go see her today. I will pick you up from school in my car, meet Emma at Grannies and we will go to Aldara's." Regina said defeatedly, knowing the both of them where right, if she wanted any kind of relationship with her daughter, she needed to talk to her sooner rather than later. Emma and Henry just grinned at her in unison. "Henry you need to go get dressed for school," Regina said trying to act like she hadn't noticed the two goons beaming at her.

"Ok Mom," He said getting up quickly drinking the milk from his bowl and placing it and his cup in the sink, still grinning at her.

"For god's sake closed your mouths you look like fools," Regina said getting embarrassed. " It's not like we are going to be best friends straight away. I can guarantee you this is going to be anything but fun" Regina said, Emma, frowned at her.

"Always the pessimistic, good thing you got me and Henry, we have enough optimism it's almost reckless. In fact, it has proven it's self to be so." Emma said to her she took her pop tart that had just popped up out of the toaster, she took a bite. Her face contorted in pain but she carried on chewing. Regina noticed her discomfort.

"Spit it out you idiot," She said to Emma laughing at the weird faces she was pulling as she battled to finish the bite. Emma shook her head rebuffing her suggestion. She swallowed hard and gasped.

"I would never waste a pop tart!" Emma said offended. Regina just shook her head and walked into her front room. She collected the rubbish from the night before, She was about to throw a pizza box away when Emma took it from her.

"It's still got pizza in it," Emma said opening the box and showing Regina three slices. She took a slice out and took a bite.

"Why Swan, are you eating cold pizza for breakfast?" Regina said a little disgusted by Emma's habits.

"Why are you not eating pizza for breakfast" Emma countered "Go on Mills," Emma said taking another bite and offered her a bite of her own. Regina just shut the box and took it off her to put it in the bin.

"It's for the best Emma" Regina said. Emma's mouth fell open. Regina, who had already cleaned up the front room without magic, walked over to Emma and patted her shoulder.

"So unfair!"Emma said to herself then pouted. She went to ask Regina if she could use her shower, it was better than the one in the spare room. Regina was already doing the washing up when she came in.

"How come you are always busy?" Emma said picking up a tea towel and a plate and drying it and putting it away. Regina looked at her.

"I like to keep to some kind of routine. You aren't going to throw me off it." Regina said placing a glass on the drying rack.

"Aren't I?" Emma said putting down her tea towel and stepping close to Regina who had turned around to face her. Emma kissed her deeply. "Seem's to me I'm somewhat of a distraction to you," Emma said and started to kiss her again. Regina pulled away turned around.

"Nope just mean's I have to be a little bit faster" Regina tried to say in a determined voice, but it came out as a whisper. Emma chuckled under her breath.

"Oh really?" Emma said and walked away. Regina watched her leave, suspicious of what she was up to. She just turned back around and carried on washing up. A few minutes later when she had finished her task she went to see if Henry was ready to leave. He wasn't he was sat playing a video game with Emma.

"Seriously?" Regina said to Emma who was engrossed in the game. Her son was also sat there watching the screen intensely.

"Well, you set the challenge, Gina?" Emma said still making her character on the screen shooting at weird looking plants in outfit's, holding guns.

"No, I'm just trying to get my son ready for school, he's already missed the school bus." Regina pointed out. Henry glanced at his watch.

"NO!" He said noticing he had meant to leave ten minutes ago. He only had fifteen minutes to get to school before classes started. There was no way he could make it halfway across town in that time if he walked. Regina watched her son stand up, clearly panicking.

"Don't worry Henry, I will drive you there since it was Emma's fault you are late for the bus," Regina said stroking henry's hair then shot a glare at the smirking blond. "Go get your thing's ready." She said looking back to Henry who nodded and ran off to get his school bag. Regina went to fetch her car keys but when she got there they were missing.

"Emma!" Regina said loud enough for Emma to hear. Emma confidently strolled out from the front room.

"Yes, my love?" She said playing innocent. She had hidden them well.

"Where are my car keys?" Regina asked annoyed knowing the blond had moved them.

" Aren't they where you usually put them?" Emma asked keeping a straight face. Regina raised an eyebrow.

"No Swan, they're not," Regina said not falling for Emma charade.

"Well, we better take the Bug before Henry is late for class," Emma said taking her own keys from her trouser pocket.

"Oh brilliant, the death trap," Regina said. "Henry come on we have to make time in case Emma's car breaks down." She shouted up to her son, who came pelting down the stairs a few seconds later.

"Why are we taking the Bug?" Henry asked them. Regina glared at Emma, waiting for her to talk.

"You Mom's misplaced her car key," Emma said trying her hardest not to smirk when Regina huffed and walked out the door. " You got to love the bug," Emma said to Henry before they to also walked to the car. Emma let Henry into the back seat then got into the driver's seat and buckled in then started the car and made her way toward Henry's school. Regina was sat there with a stony face and had crossed her arms, to make it evident to Emma she wasn't pleased with taking the Bug.

"Ah c'mon Gina, where did your beautiful smile go?" Emma said knowing that she couldn't be too angry with her because she would have just shouted at her. She could also see the side of Regina's mouth twitch up before she quickly corrected it.

"I left it in my car," Regina said turning to Emma and staring at her knowing full well the woman knew where her keys were, but Henry only had ten minutes to get to school. " Please just drive before you make our son late for school. What kind of example would we be to the town if Henry is late for school?"

"Um, a normal one. Regina, kids are late to school all the time." Emma said. She knew Regina like to be punctual but Henry being a few minutes late really wasn't that bad considering he was early every other day.

" Not my son, I won't let people think they can just drop their kids off willy-nilly," Regina said to them heatedly.

"Willy-nilly, Regina seriously I think you're overthinking this," Emma said to her.

"Swan I have my routine it keeps me from forgetting the many important things I need to do, If I don't follow it, all hell will break loose in Storybrooke, do you want to help me with the town tax forms?" Regina asked Emma, knowing the blond definitely wouldn't. They pulled up in front of the school.

"Bye Mom's, love you," Henry said then grabbed his school bag and quickly got out the car and rushed to class.

"See we got here in time, Grannies?" Emma said hoping a delicious apple pie would help to cool Regina down.

" This time Swan, next time you won't make us late will you, Yes a coffee sounds good," Regina said trying not to be so abrupt with Emma but she couldn't help feeling panicky about seeing Aldara later.

" No Regina I won't, not now I know how much it effects you, sorry it was just a joke, I wanted to cheer you up. I didn't think it through" Emma said genuinely sorry she had upset her. Regina just smiled at her sadly.

"I'm sorry Emma, It's just what if I mess it up today with Aldara and she want's nothing more to do with me?" Regina asked her scared that she would ruin whatever progress they had made.

"Regina, I can honestly tell you, you both want the same thing, to be in each other's lives. Aldara hadn't known you forgot her and she thought you had left her because you didn't want her. We explained to her that you wouldn't have done it if you had any other choice. She is ready for you to talk, now you just need to be ready to open yourself up to her." Emma said taking Regina's and stroking the back of it with her thumb. She lifted Regina's hand up to her mouth and placed a sweet kiss on it.

"Thank you, Emma, If it wasn't for you I think this would have been an entirely different situation right now," Regina admitted knowing that the stress would have gotten to her and made her act hostile to Aldara, even if she did want to get to know her. Between Emma and Henry, she had been able to keep afloat. "I love you," She said freeing her hand from Emma's and placing it on the blonds cheek. She lent in rested her forehead on Emmas. "I'd be lost without you"

"The feeling's are mutual. I don't think I have ever fallen in love with someone so effortlessly. Usually, I fight against it because I don't want someone to get close and just end up leaving me, broken" Emma said remembering how she felt when Neil left her to the cops.

"Emma I could never do anything like that to you, it would hurt too much," Regina said, " Come on let's go get some comfort pie." Emma nodded. They both got out the car and walked towards the cafe hand in hand, it felt natural to them to be near to each other. Emma opened the door for Regina who thanked her. The went to the counter and Emma pulled a seat out for Regina, Instead of sitting on it Regina pulled out the seat next to it for Emma. Emma just chuckled and they both sat down. Grannie came up to them to take their orders. She was staring at them a spark in her eyes.

"So how are you, two girls?" She asked as she placed their regular coffees in front of them.

"Busy, We have a lot on our plates today. We are going to see someone later, then Snow and Charming are coming over for dinner tonight" Regina said. " Oh crap dinner, what am I going to do for dinner."

"Don't stress love, I'll help you. In fact, you can help me." Emma said knowing she could cook one of her favorite meals for Regina. She wasn't an expert cook but she had her dishes.

"I am not letting you loose in my kitchen," Regina said not knowing Emma to be the cooking type.

"Trust me I know what to cook," Emma said. "Grannie could we also have a slice of your famous apple pie please," She asked the woman who was already grabbing a plate for it to go on. She quickly cut a slice and put it in front of Emma. Emma grabbed the both of them a fork each. She gave one to Regina and let her have the first bite. It must have been good because Regina moaned in appreciation.

"Grannie I don't know how you do it, mine is good but yours is ... legendary" Regina said after swallowing. "What do you use?"

"Cinnamon and maple syrup and a whole lot of love," Grannie said flashing them a smile. " So, I 'm just a little curious considering I'm not the only one who has noticed, are you too ...together" She asked tentatively, knowing both women were very private people. Emma looked around them at the eyes watching them intently. She looked to Regina to see if she was ready to let the town know about them. She looked at Emma and smiled shyly but Emma understood.

"Yurp she's ma girl," Emma said and grinned. Regina just blushed; covered her face with her hands, embarrassed, shaking her head a little.

Emma just put her arm around the brunette shoulders. Regina lifted her head and looked at Emma.

"Fine, I let you cook, only if I get the last bit of pie," Regina said not wanting to draw attention to herself. " Before you ask Willow, you will probably get the full story from Snow and David tomorrow anyway."

"I'm glad you two finally found each other," The woman said winking at them and walking off.

"What was that wink about," Regina asked, it had kind of spooked her.

"She clearly ships us?" Emma said and chuckled to herself. Regina just looked confused.

"It's a conversation for another time," Emma said knowing there wasn't enough time, they both had to get to work. They quickly drained the rest of the coffee.

"See you, Grannie, thanks for the pie," Emma said whilst her and Regina got up from their stools.

"Yes Thank you, it was delectable, I think I might buy some more to go please, Henry would be upset he missed pie day, somebody made him miss the bus," Regina said looking at Emma accusingly.

"I just wanted us to drive him to school, I thought it would be fun," Emma said defending herself to. Grannie. Who was just grinning at them?

"Aw, you two are just too cute, here two slices on the house, think of it as a gift from a friend," Grannie said. It was true she had been shipping them together since she saw Emma go after Regina when they were celebrating Emma and Snow's return from the dark forest, after being taken by the hat portal.

"Oookkk...we're going to go now because this is weird. We will see you... later." Emma said as she and Regina left fast.

"What the hell is everyone's obsession with us," Regina said completely astounded by the number of people not even considered to hide the fact that they were staring, the prime suspect being Grumpy, who wasn't smiling at them, at all. clearly, he didn't approve. Not that Regina would ever care about the dwarfs opinion on anything to do with her life.

"Wow, this place just gets more ..." Emma said.

"Freaky" Regina finished her sentence, Emma nodded. They made their way back to the car in silence. Once they were inside Emma switched on the radio.

"I think we need to go for a drive," Emma said putting the key in the ignition and pulled away.

"Why I have thing's I need to do," Regina said remembering the pile of paperwork stacked in her office, which she had been ignoring for far too long.

"Because I don't think we thought about how the town will react to us," Emma said knowing they could come into some problems. "I mean not everyone, mainly Grumpy, thinks you have finished with your evil ways. I would argue my point but... Grumpy" Emma said knowing that was an excuse. The man was the town's head gossip doubling as the town crier when anything bad happened. He would be poisoning people against the relationship. Most people know that he is a fool but some take him seriously, that could be a problem.

"I don't think it should affect us though, their opinions aren't of my concern anyway," Regina said not getting why Emma would care what the town was saying about them.

"They don't bother me either. I just think we need to be ready for the backlash. I mean you were THE Evil Queen, Regina, no matter how much you wish it, a reputation like your's doesn't just disappear overnight. I'm always here for you to talk to, you don't need to hide if you are struggling." Emma said. She knew that Regina was holding something back.

"I know," Regina said sadly " I'm just not used to having someone to talk to about this stuff. I usually just..." She drifted off.

"Turn off," Emma said. Regina just looked at her tears in her eyes.

" I just ... I've changed, why can't they accept that?" Regina said a tear falling down her cheek. Emma pulled over. Regina stared at her confused.

"This is the reason we are driving Gina, Let me in. I know I'm not always the most open person, but I'm trying. If you want I'll go first?" Emma said bringing her hand up to wipe away a tear.

"I think that might be the best way, I need to calm down first," Regina said, trying to stifle her tears. Emma smiled at her softly.

" Ok, so what would you like to talk about?" Emma said. Regina thought for a few seconds. She turned in her seat to face Emma and rested her head on the top of the seat.

"Hook, did you like him?" She asked knowing that Emma had chosen her, but still, it made her worry a little.

"Maybe but I think he and I... I didn't feel like myself around him, I felt like I constantly was the one doing the work. He could talk the talk, but I think he still has some growing to do before he's ready to be with someone. You, however, have been... amazing. The way you've changed your life around. I really admire you, Regina, You are so different than the lonely, reserved woman I first met. You've helped me more than I think you realize. You were the person who made me see, anyone can change for the better. It just takes strength and some real friends." Emma said Regina had started to look at her hands. Uncomfortable under Emma's complements.

Emma reached out for Regina's hand. Regina held it on her lap. She ran her thumb over Emma's hand. A tear fell onto their joined fingers. Emma used her free hand to life Regina's chin. Regina smiled at her shyly.

" I think you give me to much credit. I mean look what happened with Robin. I really am sorry for shutting you out back then. I guess I kind of thought with you and Hook, Marion coming back and then everything else that happened with looking for the author, I was contemplating just letting that woman die. The only reason I didn't was Roland, he deserves to have his mother. I can't see another person hurt because of my actions, especially an innocent child like him, just caught up in the drama." Regina said. " I don't think I'm ever going to be rid of that voice in my head that tells me to hurt the ones I love. I was force fed to hate anything to do with the concept. My mother made me detach from anything or anyone who would stop her plans. Anyone who cared about me enough to fight her either ended up having to leave for their own safety or ..."

Emma didn't say anything she knew what Regina was going to say but couldn't say. Emma looked at her with empathetic eyes.

"Regina, being strong, it's not about any of that. In fact, doesn't that prove how strong you are? You were a scared young girl who happened to have the mother from hell. That voice in your head, it shows you how far you have come, how hard you have fought to be the person you wanted to be. Shutting me out is a natural reaction for you. You're not used to having people to talk to, neither was I. Then a little boy came along and change my life forever. Every day I'm thankful he had you to be his Mom, he wouldn't be who he was now if you were scared to love" Emma said.

Her son had been the first person that Regina had taken down her protective wall for. Emma knew the story and the way that Regina had told her had shown her that the moment Regina had met Henry she knew he was her son. It just took a little longer for Henry to work that out.

"Yes I know but the voice makes me feel weak, like a part of me that threatens to ruin everything. It's like living with a devil in my head, sometimes it's screaming so loud all I can do is lock myself away, so no one else can hear it." Regina said, Lately she had been struggling the most, with everything feeling like it was falling apart. Emma had kept her together. Her getting the flu was the best thing that's ever happened to her. As well as Henry of course.

"You know I think I have a song for you," Emma said knowing she could use an uplift. She pulled the cd case out of the glove compartment. She scanned through them and pulled on out. She took popped it in and skipped to Number 13. Warrior blasted through the speakers. Regina listened carefully staring at Emma as she took in the lyrics.

the verse:

There's a part of me I can't get back

A little girl grew up too fast

All it took was once, I'll never be the same

Now I'm taking back my life today

Nothing left that you can say

'Cause you are never gonna take the blame anyway

She couldn't help but identify with the song the lyrics turned in her head and made her feel secure in herself.

"That's you, Regina, your my warrior" Emma said smiling at her then pulled her in to kiss her.

"I love you," Regina said as they broke apart.


	16. Don't Forget

Regina felt better after her and Emma's chat, but the visit to Aldara was still making her panic. It wasn't what would happen, and what could happen. It's what happened already that scared Regina. Having no idea why she would abandon a child, especially her own daughter, sparked fear in her.

Emma had dropped her off at the town hall. She sat in the car for a few seconds gather herself before going in as mayor of Storybrooke. A role she took pride in. She and Emma had also talked about the fact that Rumple had turned up with the three witches. Emma was suspicious of them. Regina had promised to keep an eye on them.

She had been distracting herself by thinking about Operation Mongoose. She and Henry had inrolled Emma to there cause not long before Regina got ill. They hadn't made much progress of late. Henry and she had been getting close to something though. She needed to borrow that book from Henry. She needed to look for clues for the author if anyone could tell her why she drank that potion it was him.

She carried on with Mayorly duties. Signing things, reading things ect...ect. All the things she could now practically do in her sleep. She let her mind wander to Emma. She couldn't believe what had happened between the two of them. She had liked Emma for some time now.

When Robin left, Emma was the one who brought her back. She had done the impossible and mended her broken heart. Regina knew in the back of her head that there was a chance Robin would be back. She loved him still, a part of her always would. He was the first person to show her, she still deserved to be loved. But when he had chosen Marion, he had lost Regina completely. She hadn't meant it to be that way it just happened. She felt herself around Emma she didn't have to hide behind a mask if she was struggling with something Emma could just tell.

She liked that, it meant that she didn't have to act like the mayor, Queen or Hero. She was just Regina, the woman in love with Emma Swan.

************************************************************************************************************************

Emma was at the sheriff office. There wasn't much going on crime-wise in town. After Rumple left everything just died down. Now he was back with his buddies she suspected there was going to be more for her to do.

Her Dad had gone out with Snow to investigate into Rumple's little gang. They had been warned that if they tried anything they wouldn't last much longer in Storybrooke. Emma knew they were up to something. They had been off with her since Rumple had brought his friends back. Something nagged in the back of her mind that they were hiding something big from her. She just had no idea what it could be.

For now, she would focus on Regina and Aldara. She wanted nothing more than the two of them to get along. She ran over in her head what might happen. It could end up a disaster. She might have just convinced Regina to walk into a trap, but there was just something about how Aldara's disposition changed the last time they met. She seemed more human less woman with scary magic powers and huge black wings. What was with those anyway. She'd never met any other witch that could fly.

It was pretty cool though. Emma just sat and daydreamed about having wings for a while. Nothing was happening she was getting bored. She decided to throw darts at the wall. Soon enough it was lunchtime. She grabbed her jacket and left the office, leaving a sign up to tell people who came in looking for her where she was.

She didn't bother taking the bug, it was only down the street. The walk was a nice distraction, perhaps she would just do a walk of the town after lunch, to make sure no one was up to no good. She got to the sandwich shop called Mr. Sandman's Sandwich shop. She opened the door and approached the counter a young man in his late twenties stood behind the counter. His hair was styled to look a little scruffy. He had rosy cheeks and wore a white apron over a white shirt, tie and black trousers.

"Hey Emma," He said as if he knew her. Last time this happened it didn't go so well. He just gave her a goofy grin. "Don't worry you don't know me, But I know you"

"I gathered," Emma said scanning the counter " I'll take one of your BLT's and a coffee. So who actually are you, you know from the enchanted forest."

"Oh my name is Mr. Sandman, I am Mr.Sandman. It might take you as a surprise but I don't age. Perks of the job" He said cheerily.

"What is your 'job'?" Emma asked him. She had obviously heard his story before but she didn't remember it.

"I um.. It's kinda weird... I give people dreams" He said chuckling nervously. Emma nodded. She didn't know what to make of that.

"So you're the BFG?" She asked him, sure sounded like it to her. Maybe he just downsized.

"Um no... I'm the Sandman, I show people hat they need to see. Or you know what they want to see. I can also give people nightmares. I use it more as a warning to people. They each have their own meanings. Like you Emma, do you remember the dream I gave you a few months back, contained a certain brunette.

"Yeah Um we were walking in the forest and a big black bird flew in front of us. It was a little snappy at first but after I coxed it a little, We made friends. Regina just gave me this look. When I woke up is when I realized for the first time I had feelings for Regina. I was a little put off a first, but then it just happened." Emma said remembering her head was spinning and she felt guilty for having the feelings when she was just starting to date Hook.

"That was my little...wake up call for you. I'd seen how Regina and you looked at each other. Both of you just ready to accept your fate how it was handed to you. I knew I had too...give you a push, towards each other" He chuckled again. He started on Emma's Sandwich. " I did it to Regina too, hers was a little more...um saucy, You ask her about it," He said giving her a cheeky grin. "I don't think I disappointed her."

Emma really just wanted to leave. This dude kept getting creeper. He finished up making her sub. He wrapped it up for her and put it in a bag. He handed her the coffee she had ordered as well. " Sorry if I came across a little stalker, I just took notices was all. That usually means that something needs to be done. "

" Yeah...ok?" Emma said this boy was weird. She paid him and went to leave.

"Two seconds Emma I have something that might help Regina," He said he quickly went into the backroom. Emma waited unsure why she was listening to him but it seemed important. He came back out holding a glass vile with gold dust swirling around inside it. "This is some of my sand. It will be very useful to her. It will help her remember what happened with Aldara. She just needs to find the right spell to use it. Just a warning, the spell won't work if the person/ person's under its influence if they are fighting against it. They must go in willingly, it is important." He said he handed her the vile. She looked at it closely before putting it in her pocket.

"Thanks for this, So you staying around Storybrooke?" She asked him. He nodded.

"Until I'm no longer needed. your mother had a nasty dose last night. It was necessary." he told her. Mary Margret was keeping a big secret for her daughter, she needed to learn the consequents of her's and David's actions. Emma just nodded and walked out of the shop.

"Well that was just fucking bizarre," She said to herself as she started her way back down to the office." Man controls dreams, not the BFG my arse!"

She tucked the sand carefully in her draw. She eats her sandwich in the office and then holstered her gun, ready to walk around. She went back on the street. She thought about her parents and why they were acting so strange. It had to be bad news. She needed to talk to them soon.

************************************************************************************************************************

Regina was picking Henry up from school in Emma's bug because Emma was using the work car. They were going to the diner before they went to Aldara's. Regina had this feeling in the pit of her stomach something bad was happening in Storybrooke. With Rumple back with Cruella, Ursula and Maleficent it couldn't mean puppies and rainbow on the horizon. Emma had mentioned Snow and David had been acting weirdly too. If those two were hiding something it had to be big. Their daughter meant everything to them, if only they could see what there distancing was doing to Emma. She had pulled away from them, the pirate too. Regina knew it had been affecting the blond more than she let on.

During their little talk, Emma had told Regina, that it upset her. She felt like she had done something wrong. Regina had reassured her that it was her. It was her parent's who were in the wrong. Keeping things from her and being distant. Hook was just as bad. He had been pulling away too. Emma had been feeling like her family was falling apart. Regina and Henry were the only people talking to her.

She drove to Grannies and parked up. They were meeting Emma there in ten minutes. She opened the door and sat at the bar was Ursula and Cruella. They both turned to face her.

"Regina, we could use a heart rip over here. Grannie needs a little encouragement taking our order." Usurla said to He as she closed the door behind her.

"Yes a very effective tactic didn't you once rip out every heart of every village of the north woods," Cruella said to her as Regina grabbed Henry's hand protectively.

"Or was it the south?" Ursula added. Regina controlled her inner anger for the second whilst her son was present. She bent down to whisper to him.

"Uh... Why don't you head to my office, get started on the book" She asked him, she has told him about her plan earlier in the car. He had been all for it.

"Sure, make sure you get chocolate frosted donuts, not chocolate donuts ok" He reminded her. Regina couldn't really tell the difference but Henry always insisted they were better. She hummed to show she understood and he left. She waited until he was gone to talk.

"Let me be clear Ladies...If you bring up my former sins around my son again, you'll find yourself across the town line faster than you can say 'costume Jewelry'!" She gave them a grave face making it clear her, her son and the rest of her family were not to be messed with.

"These are blood diamonds, I'll have you know," Cruella said offended.

"Come on, let take our business elsewhere," Ursula said in an irritated tone. Regina just glared at them as they left. Snow and David left there booth to come and talk to her.

"So whats the plan here?" David asked. Snow and he had been instantly wary of their new visitors. They had been doing their own investigation into the witch trio.

"To deal with our latest...crisis" Snow asked she looked like she was hiding how scared she was, she wasn't doing a great job of it though. Regina could always tell when Snow was frightened, call it an intuition.

"Those two might be tactless morons, but ...They couldn't magic their way out a paper bag. I wouldn't worry. And they're here to seek redemption." Regina said to the not entirely believing that fact herself.

"You don't really believe that," Mary Margret asked her stunned and a little angry Regina was just brushing their caution away. The puppy killer and fish hadn't really been top of her priorities considering they were as harmless as they were useful. Sure Maleficent could be a problem but Regina knew that woman well enough to know when she was in on it. She had come here looking for something else completely.

"If I didn't think it was a distinct possibility, I wouldn't have let them in town in the first place," Regina told them. The Charming's had gotten on her nerves, no matter how much Emma had trusted her decision, the blond's parents still doubted her.

"Now that they're here, we have to be certain, which means keeping eyes on them 24/7," David added. Regina knew that Emma had been keeping her own tabs on the trio. Regina had seen enough to know right now they weren't an issue. Sure she would love a little more information, but that wasn't just going to appear out of thin air. She would wait until her sheriff told her there was an issue as any good mayor would. Pre-judging was something of a qualm to her.

"Which sounds like a job for the sheriff's department. I have bigger things to worry about. Don't forget about dinner tonight, Emma's cooking." Regina said the pushy pair had twitched one of her nerves that were already a little tender. She walked past them and went to order.

"Our daughter can cook?" Snow said quietly to David. He just shrugged they went back to their booth. Regina made sure not to make eye contact when she left the diner. She could still see them in the corner of her eye following her as she walked away, Obviously wanting to ask about Emma cooking but not having enough balls to do it. The brave and mighty everyone. As Regina closed the door behind her she spotted Emma stood by her sheriff car that was parked up by Regina's. She was talking to Hook. Who had noticed Regina coming out and awkwardly said goodbye to Emma?

"Hello Swan, what brings you here?" Regina asked knowing exactly why the blond had come to the cafe. She handed her two paper bags and a disposable coffee cup.

"You didn't?" Emma said opening the bag. Inside the first was two bear claws, in the second a grilled cheese. "Two as well, You must love me!" Emma said grabbing her waist and giving her a big smooch. Regina pulled back embarrassed.

"EMMA!" She said trying to sound angry but just ended up laughing at the blond who just grinned and bit into one of the pastries. Regina shook her head. " Oh, by the way, I dropped the 'Emma's cooking' bomb on your parents. Their reaction wasn't one of complete horror so I think you stand a chance." Regina said teasing her. Emma slapped her on the arm lightly still chewing. She finally swallowed.

"I've got to go somewhere with Dad then I will come and meet you at your Office," Emma said.

"Oh, so you're abandoning me with the junk box again. Henry is already there, I had a run in with Cruella and Ursula, they brought up my past around Henry rather insensitively" Regina said. Emma opened the door of her bug for Regina to get in. Regina took her seat and Emma closed the door and leaned through the window.

" Yeah me too, Hook knows something about Ursula. They just jealous because you've won. You have a son, even Snow and David have welcomed you with open-ish arms" Emma said knowing that Regina probably knew this, Emma just wanted to make sure the woman didn't doubt that she made the right choice when she chose the light side.

"I know dear, more so I have you and they definitely should be jealous of that," Regina said she took Emma's face in her hands and place a light kiss on her mouth. "I'll see you in soon, missus. Don't be too late!" Regina warned her playfully.

"Yes Madam Major," Emma said, she quickly snuck another kiss and ran off childishly. Regina shook her head and laughed at her girlfriend. How in the world had she ended up in love with such a goofball?

**********************************************************************************************************************************

Emma made her way up the stairs of the town hall towards Regina's office. She knew Regina was nervous about their little trip so she brought along a bottle of wine for her and Aldara to share. Being the responsible bug driver she was she would drink. She knocked on the door and heard Henry and Regina talking behind.

"Come in Emma" Regina shouted. Emma was surprised she knew it was her until she remembered the door had glass panels. She opened the door and saw them sat at her desk looking at a magic copy of the Storybook.

"What's up?" She asked them, they were both hunched over the book staring at it.

" I need to talk to Pinocchio, well... August" Regina said deep in thought. Emma hummed in response and went to stand next to her. She put shoulder.

"You gonna elaborate on that?" Emma asked she rubbed her back.

"We think he might know more about the author. I told Mom he took the pages out to show you. She thinks he might know something we don't" Henry said.

"But August is Pinnochio now he doesn't remember being August?" Emma said. Regina kept her eyes on the loose pages. more ingrossed in them than she should be. "Gina?" Emma said not liking that the brunette wasn't saying anything.

"I need to change him back Emma, I have to. The author he will know about Aldara. He can tell me why I abandoned my own daughter!" Regina said passionately. She realized she was getting worked up and took a deep breath, " Sorry"

"It's fine Mom. I don't think changing Pinnohico is the best answer to this though" Henry told her. "Like I said the Mother Superior said there were clues in the book. I just need more time to look Mom" He said this was dark magic territory, he wouldn't let his Mom go back to that. Not now, not ever.

"Henry, what ifs my only chance?" Regina asked her son sadly.

"Dark magic is never an option," Henry said putting his foot down.

"I agree if we are doing this we are doing it properly," Emma said, She trusted her son could find something. "Okay, we need to go because Mom and Dad are coming round at nine and it's five now. I'm gonna need at least two hours to get ready for dinner tonight."

"Are you sure about this Emma?" Regina asked still hesitant to talk with Aldara now she knew more about her backstory.

"Gina she's your kid, She's smart. If she hasn't worked out you've changed yet then she's blinding herself." Emma said grabbing Regina's hands in her own. Regina nodded and stood up. Emma hugged her, Regina pulled Henry into the hug and kissed his forehead.

"Let's do this" Regina said she smiled at them, still a little unsure but feeling better. After all, she had the Saviour and the truest believer with her.

**********************************************************************************************************************************

Aldara was sat on her small patchwork armchair writing a song. She had her guitar in her lap and a notebook balanced on her knee. She was going back and forth the two jotting lyrics down and figuring the next ones out with the melody that had popped into her head earlier that day. She had gotten the chorus but the verses were a little more tricky.

She was about to do another playthrough when she heard a knock on her front door. She stood up, placing the notebook and guitar on the armchair. She walked nervously to the door. She knew her mother was stood behind it. She really did want to give her a chance though. If someone hadn't given her chance a while back she would never be where she was today. She took a deep breath and unlatched the door. Opening it, revealing Regina, Emma and Henry stood there. The two women were smiling shyly at her but Henry was beaming at her.

"Hey, we're back," He said still grinning. He like that he had a big sister, he liked even more than his big sister was Regina's. He loved his Mom and knew she always regretted not having a child of her own. He knew that if they could talk today properly that his Mom would be even happier than she was. She didn't need to find her happy ending because they were going to bring it to her.

"Hey Cutie, Emma...Mom" She said smiling at them. She could see that her Mom had a good support system. Her support system was in another realm but she knew that they were waiting for her. Regina was staring at her but Aldara could see her finding her own features on her face. Each one bringing a smile to her face.

"Hi," Regina said smiling timidly. Emma handed her the bottle she had brought with her.

"Icebreaker," She said smiling at Aldara.

"I'm ok, I don't really into wine, but I'll go find a glass for you." Aldara stood back and waved them in.

"That okay I wasn't really in a drinking mood anyway," Regina said, "I should probably keep a straight head for this, well give it to Snow and David tonight"

"But I already got them one?" Emma pointed out. Regina sighed.

"Then they can have two," Regina said giggling a little.

"Or...I could keep it?" Emma said nudging Regina playfully. "Ehhh"

"Sure we can keep it," Regina said Emma put her arm around her around her. Regina kissed the cheek.

"So you guys are together then?" Aldara said smirking at them "Your kind are of adorable together." Emma grinned at Aldara.

"Thanks," She said in a cheery tone. Regina was just looking at the floor embarrassed.

"Ah come on Mom, you can't be embarrassed by that," Henry said chuckling at her.

"I'm not embarrassed, " She said trying to hide in Emma's jacket. Aldara chucked at Regina.

"I'll go get us some drinks coffee good, you're stuck with Soda Henry," She told them and ruffled Henry's hair. " By the way kid, that storybook has helped ton's. You're special, don't let people tell you otherwise" She said knowing that Henry would have had to face his own hardships as the Evil Queen's son. Kid's could be cruel at his age.

"Oh he know's I tell him all the time," Regina said pulling him to her side.

"You guys take a seat, I'll be back in a moment," Aldara said going into the kitchen.

"You were right this place is pretty amazing," Regina said, Her daughter clearly had her good taste.

"Yeah, I told you didn't I, look at the guitar. She must have been playing before we got here." Emma said walking over to it. She didn't pick it up, not wanting to be rude.

"OH do you think she will play for us," Henry said excitedly. He jumped up. " I'm going to go ask her" He left the room that fast Emma and Regina didn't have time tell him she probably wouldn't want to. Regina didn't think she was there with her yet, she could be wrong.

Emma and Regina sat on a small loveseat. There quietly looking around the room, hands tangled together. Emma looked at Regina who looked calmer than she had all day.

"I told you she was nice," Emma said nudging her slightly.

"Yeah you did, Emma you've been my rock, thank you," She said and lent her head on Emma's shoulder. Who lent her head on Regina's.

Henry came back in with Aldara, helping her to carry the drinks.

He gave Emma's to her and sat on the floor by his Mom's the small front room could barely fit the small love seat and the armchair.

Aldara gave Regina her cup with a timid smile. She set her own cup on the side table by her chair. She turned to face Regina and Emma.

"So how did it happen?" Aldara asked curious about how they had ended up together.

"Emma was looking after Henry and I a while back when I caught the flu. I think it just developed from there. We didn't really talk about it properly at first but, I think we knew what was going on" Regina said smiling her daughter then at Emma who wore a cheesy grin

"Your arrival kind of triggered it I think, so thanks for that" Emma said chuckling.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about the forcefield, I didn't think Mom would be that easy, to find. I had like seven of those shards hidden in Storybrooke" Aldara said, " I really hadn't expected you to be friend with the Saviour" She said smiling. " Um.. so Henry asked If I would play you guys something." She said nervously. Henry nodded. " I guess I could play you one song." She said smiling at Henry's enthusiasm. Se picked up her guitar and coughed nervously. She started to play.

Regina listened intently as her astounding voice filled the small room. She watched her finger's dancing across the strings. She could feel her passion through her music. She felt privileged to be able to listen to her. After everything she never thought Aldara would let her in so fast. She couldn't help the goofy grin on her face as her daughter sung, although she did wonder who the song was for. She didn't want to push too much in case Aldara wasn't ready to talk about it yet.

When Aldara was finished she gave them a shy smile, whilst hiding behind her hair.

"Your incredible" Henry said standing up to run over and hug her which she happily accepted.

"Thanks, kid," she said. He pulled away.

"Whats it called? Could you teach me?" He asked smiling at her.

"Don't Forget," She said. " Sure, maybe something a little easier first though." She giggled.

"Yes," He said holding his hand up for a high five. Aldara slapped her hand on his. Regina and Emma were still sat there silent.

"You wrote that?" Regina asked her. Aldara nodded smiling. " That...It's..."

"Breathtaking" Emma finished just as gobsmacked. She hadn't been expecting that voice. She was beyond incredible.

" Umm... thanks. Do you guys do that a lot?" Aldara asked a little weirded out but their couple-ness.

"Yeah recently, It weird isn't it" Henry informed her. She nodded and they both giggled.

"Hey Aldara, do you wanna come over to Regina's for dinner tonight. My parents are coming too. I'm cooking" She said proudly, but Regina gave Aldara a stare that told her the blond didn't cook much.

"Yeah sounds like fun, mind if I tag along with you guys?" Aldara asked she hadn't used her magic for a while not wanting to use dark magic anymore. Hoping she could overcome it like her Mother. She wouldn't mind seeing what unraveled at this dinner party If Snow and David were going to be there and Emma was cooking something hilarious was bound to happen. She couldn't believe a few days ago she had almost ruined this family. She was so happy that Henry had come with Emma. He made her realize Regina must be a decent person because she could tell that this boy loved both of his Moms but Regina was his 'Mummy'. You could tell by the way he was with her that he wouldn't ask to have been brought up by anyone else.


	17. Chef?!

"Why is it I feel just as anxious now, as I did meeting you this morning?" Regina asked Aldara as they sat at the counter in the kitchen. Emma had picked up the ingredients on the way home. She had told Regina and Aldara to sit in the living room but Regina had said back.

"I'm not missing an opportunity to see you cooking with our son, these are priceless candid moments," Regina said to her as Emma had started getting ready to cook. Half an hour in and Emma, to Regina's surprise, was doing well. She had everything cooking in time and it smelt delicious. Roni had even managed to sneak a taste at the sauce when Emma had her back turned and it tasted amazing.

"Who knew you could cook this well dear," Roni said she might have to get the blond to cook for them more if this is how it tasted.

"Didn't I tell you, but noo... Why would Emma need to know how to cook. Truth is I'm an independent woman who has survived this long...by eating" Emma said making it obvious that all though she might not have cooked in Storybrooke she had managed to survive in the world by herself for a decent length of time, providing meals and such, for herself. Sure she would skip out and have takeaway most nights, but that was usually because she couldn't be bothered to cook anything.

" I'm just pleasantly surprised, I think you might have to start cooking more baby," Regina said. Emma looked down embarrassed into the saucepan and looked at it more intently than she needed too.

"Awe that's so cute, look she's blushing and everything," Aldara said to Regina who was chuckling at her. Henry who had been solely focused on dicing. He heard his Mom and Aldara laughing. He stopped cutting and looked at them to see what they were chucking at. They were both staring at Emma who was staring at the soup.

"What happened?" He asked Emma, who glanced at him sideways. She was still red but she was smiling.

"Nothing Kid, your Mom, and Aldara are just getting along really well. There teasing me together." She whispered to him, Henry just nodded not wanting to intervene.

"Awesome!" He whispered back, smiling at Emma passed her the garlic and chives. She quickly prepared her garlic bread and chucked it in to cook.

"Love your parents will be here any minute, shall I go let them in?" Regina asked Emma who was tasting the sauce. She nodded at Regina, then sprinkled parsley on the sauce, grabbing the bottle of olive oil and drizzling it on the top. Regina got up and went over to Emma. She went up close to Emma and put a hand on the blonds hip. "Just so you make a sexy chef" She whispered into her ear. Emma looked at her with dilated pupils, the blond kissed her then rested her forehead against Regina's. She turned back to the sauce and brought the spoon up to Regina's mouth who tasted a piece of linguine. Her eyes went wide and she smiled at Emma.

"Good?" Emma asked her. Regina nodded and smiled at her.

"You coming over to cook more often. That is just..." Regina shook her head and walked off lost for words. She heard a knock on the door, she went to answer it knowing it was Snow and David. She pulled it open to reveal them stood there holding a bottle of wine.

"Hey, Regina what smells so good? " David asked both him and Snow sniffing at the air.

"Your daughter has cooked courgette & tomato linguine, It's delicious," Roni told them and invited them it, Snow handed her the bottle.

"So did you help her after?" Snow asked Regina if Emma could cook how come she never cooked before.

"Barely, her and Henry are a good team," Regina commented as they walked into the kitchen. Snow and David stood dazed watching Emma and Henry interact about their dinner. Until Emma noticed Snow and David were there.

"Hey, Mom, Dad. I think This is almost ready so you guys can go in, Regina and I can dish up" Emma said to the three guests and Henry.

"Hey, Emma, It smells amazing, I can' t wait to try it," David said grinning at his daughter.

"Thank's Dad," Emma said grinning back at him. The small group shuffled into the dining room which Regina had set out earlier. Snow, David, Henry, and Aldara took their seat at the circular dining table.

Emma and Regina got the food ready and went to serve their guests. They placed the large bowl of pasta and the garlic bread on the table. They took their seats and all dug it.

**********************************************************************************************************************************

"That was incredible Mom," Henry said to Emma who smiled at him.

"Thanks, kid, I try my best," Emma said chuckling at the boy whose mouth was smeared with sauce. Regina was giggling at him also and used a napkin to clean him up.

" Mom!" Henry said trying to make her stop. But Regina who had years of practice managed to wipe it off anyway. Henry pouted at Regina. Who just tap her finger on his forehead playfully.

"Cheer up, we still have dessert yet, Give me two seconds to digest," Emma said leaning back. Regina stood up to clear the dishes, and Henry got up to help her. They quickly cleared the table and took the plates into the kitchen. Regina came back in.

"Um, Emma could I ...Talk to you a second? If you'd like you can all go sit in the front room with Henry, We will be in there in a second." Regina asked Emma and directed the others towards the front room. They nodded and stood up. Aldara was the last out of the room.

"He wants to play a board game doesn't her" Alara said to them, Henry had told Aldara about his plan to get his one of his games out for them to play, he thought it would help Aldara get to know them more and for Snow and David to not be so awkward about coming over to talk to Emma and Regina. The Charmings hadn't mentioned the reason for the dinner yet, so maybe a game to get them talking would be a good idea.

"Yeah, he does... He was petty adamant that it would get David and Snow to open up. I think he's picked Monopoly." Regina said smirking at them. " I think he's really excited about it"

" Yeah he is, I don't mind I'm great at that," Aldara said grinning at them.

"Can't be as good as me Al, I'm a street buying machine!" Emma said to her. Regina burst out laughing and shook her head.

"Babe, I've beaten you at this game every time we play it?" Regina said to her remembering that last time they played Regina had pretty much bought out the board before Emma and Henry had even gotten a street. 

" That's just luck, you always get the good dice rolls" Emma pretended to sulk. Regina chuckled at her and the three of them walked into the front room.

"Go on Henry, go get the game," Regina said to him. Emma had bought it him for Christmas and the three off them had played together quite a lot. It was usually Emma and Regina who won, but once or twice Henry had been able to win.

Henry ran upstairs to get the game and came bombing back down holding it. he placed it on the coffee table and set it up.

"Ok everyone has their money and everything is sorted now we just pick out pieces and play." He said smiling at them. Snow and David who had never played the game before looked at Emma and Regina confused.

"Basically we all pick one of these, we each roll the two dice whoever has the biggest number goes first. Don't worry guys I'll talk you through it as we play, It's easier that way." Emma said to her Parents they nodded at her and picked their pieces out of Henry's hand. Snow choose the rubber duck and David picked up the racing car. Henry offered his hand to Aldara who took the penguin and then to His moms. Emma swiped the hat and Regina shook her head at her girlfriend and lifted the cat from her son's palm.

" We all start off with $1500 dollars and we all try to buy all the properties on the board. You buy properties to go on your spaces but you have to buy up the street. aka the color. There also other parts but I tell u about them when they come up.

They began to play. Snow managed to Roll the highest number and moved eleven spaces landing on St. Charles. Regina looked at Emma and rolled her eyes. 'Well this is going to be fun' Emma said to herself knowing how competitive Regina and Snow got with each other.

Snow continued to win with Regina close behind her fighting to overtake. She had managed to stay close behind her but barely because by now Snow had bought up most of the board. Emma had gone out first and had been helping Regina to try and beat Snow who had David helping her once he had gone bankrupt. Henry and Aldara had decided to pool their properties together. Regina tried to stop them saying it wasn't official rules, but Emma convinced her it was ok. Henry hadn't managed to get many properties and Aldara and him had the full set of blue properties, so they were starting to catch up, They had splashed out a little and added The odd house and by the time the came was coming to a close it was them against Snow and Regina who had decided they need to join up. The two made are a surprisingly good team and managed to bankrupt the younger team pretty quickly.

"YES!" Snow shouted when Henry had to hand them the last of their properties over to the back. He was okay with losing because Snow and Regina had been beating him and he didn't think that they would be able to do it without arguing, but they had. In fact, Regina had even let Snow decide how to spend the money. She had just help Snow come up with their best players.

"It's alright Kid, We'll smash 'um next time, How about, you and I go sort out the dessert and these guys can clear up the game," Aldara said standing up. Henry followed his sister into the kitchen happily, excited for the brownies that Emma and Regina had made earlier. He had helped with making the sauce. Well, making sure the sauce was tasty enough.

Aldara thought they could use some time to chat alone. Knowing that that was the reason they had come.

Regina and Snow started to pack up. Whilst Emma collected the money and David put it away as Regina instructed him too.

"So are we going to talk about you guys?" Snow asked not really know how to breach the subject but knowing it might be there only time alone with the two woman.

"Yeah, sure Mom ask away," Emma said handing David the last of the money. He quickly sorted it and Regina placed it all away.

"When did you both... notice?" Snow asked them watching them intently.

"I think we kinda...always had a sort of... chemistry. But I guess I realized I liked her when Ishe started to open up more. We had a lot more in common than I thought we would, like our love of star watching.." Emma said smiling at Regina.

"I fell in love with her because she introduced me to Mario Kart," Regina said and Emma and she started laughing. " No in all seriousness. It when she came in the middle of the night when I had the flu and couldn't get up off the bathroom floor. I realized how stupid I had been trying to lock myself away. Noone had been had done that for me before. I just realized I wanted her there." Regina said going over to Emma and sitting on the blond's lap. "It wasn't until I knew she liked me back through that I truly started to fall for her." She kissed Emma's smiling mouth lightly. " Now she's not leaving my side"

"Promise" Emma whispered to her. Forgetting her parent's were present for a second she kissed Regina hard. Regina, who was taken by surprise by the passionate kiss also forgot. David and Snow left them to it. They didn't need to ask any questions. They could see that they were true love. Even if it had taken them four years and few curses to realize.

Emma pulled away and realized her parents where gone.

"I guess we answered the questions," Emma said giggling both of them a little out of breath. "Do you think we scared them off"

"No, I think they thought we might need space" Regina chuckled. They both went quiet. Regina rolled over the events of the past couple of months. The idea had been floating around in her head since she had stayed with Emma at Snow's and David's apartment. She was a little nervous but it felt right at that moment.

"Emma, could I ask you something...really Important?" Regina said her voice giving away her anxiousness a little. Emma nodded wondering why Regina was so fidgety all of a sudden...


	18. Just Peachy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a little late guys. But it's here :) enjoyy :D

Emma nodded. Regina pulled something out of her pocket. It was the Sand vial. 

"David said he found this in your draw when he was looking for the stapler. Emma where did you get this? It's...Powerful stuff. Regina said to her, David had slipped it into her pocket, He had wrapped a note around it. A fool could tell you it was sleep sand. Regina had only ever seen it used for evil, and never in its true form. This vial contained some of the most powerful magic in their realm. " It's really dangerous if you don't know what you are doing with it. Who gave it to you?" Regina warned her. Emma looked shocked but smiled at her. 

"The Sandwich Man gave it to me, for you," Emma told her, Regina gave her a questioning look. "He told me it could help you remember, I forgot with everything happening that I had left it at the station. He said to Umm... sprinkle it on you when you're asleep. It will apparently bring the memory back. I think we should do a bit of research on it first though, ya know it being so powerful and all." 

"So, this..." She shook the bottle and the stagnated floating flecks of sand started to whirl around inside the glass vile. "Is gonna help me remember?" Regina asked the blonde who nodded.

"That what he said. He also mentioned that he changes peoples dreams." Emma said pulling a dubious expression. 

"Like the BFG?" Regina said confused. Emma giggled.

"I said that... He didn't seem too pleased by the reference," Emma said to Regina who chuckled lightly. 

"Where do you suggest we look first?" Regina said inspecting the sparkling golden dust. Emma shrugged. 

"I was hoping you would know," Emma said. Aldara who had come to tell them dessert was ready, caught the end of their conversation. She cleared her throat to get their attention, both woman's head turned to look at her. 

"I think I might know where to look, I just might need your guy's help finding the right book. It's small yellow book with a black mottled triangle on the front and back. I came across it once with a friend, we were trying to find the Sandman, but he was trapped here. So here I came." Aldara told them. Regina raised an eyebrow. 

"You're looking for the Sandman? Why?" Regina asked hoping Aldara wasn't planning anything dangerous. Aldara smiled at her. 

" My friend, Khamari, he has these really vivid dreams at least once a month. There the same every time. He say's he can see a huge crater and he would try to walk into the crater but he say's its missing something. We were searching for the place in the Enchanted forest but after we found the book, I realized I had to come here to find Sandman. Mari had to stay there, he said if he left the forest something bad would happen to him. He didn't even come with me to Neverland, he wouldn't step on the boat... at all. He shouted for me to go, that he would be waiting for me. I need to find out what is happening to him. He started getting restless in his sleep more often, he get's flashes of scenes in his head, he wouldn't tell me most of them. Some of them even come true. He dreamt that he would meet me, three days later I turned up. It was unnerving at first, him knowing if something was going to happen. He stopped me running head first into a dragon lair. He's saved many people's lives, but he is getting worse and the visions are becoming painful for him. I need to ask the Sandman about the crater dream. Mari said that it seemed important somehow, there was something there he needed. He hasn't a clue what it is." Aldara said to them. The woman listened to her intently, both looking perplexed. 

"I think I might know where he's dreaming about," Emma said remembering one of her unplanned and unwanted visits to the forest leading her to somewhere similar. "I was fighting Hook in a place similar to that description when Cora was trying to get to Storybrooke, She did anyway, that didn't end so well. Anyway, Lake Nostos, it was a huge crater when I was there. Apparently, it can restore life to someone who is cursed. Perhaps, what is affecting him is a curse. If we could figure out a way to get to the Enchanted Forest and find a way to restore the lake." Emma suggested. Aldara and Regina grinned at her. 

"That actually might work. I think I read about that once, I know how to find it, Of course. I just never found a reason to go there, until now" Regina said, she smiled at Emma then looked at Aladara who looked pensive.

"So, we need a way to the Enchanted Forest." Aldara pondered. 

"I think we can manage that." Regina said, "Come one, the dessert looks amazing," Regina said standing up and holding her hand out to Emma who took it and stood up. "Babe I'm so sorry I ever doubted your cooking skills, That dinner was incredible," Regina said giggling a little. She kissed the blonde lightly. The three of them walked into the dining room and sat in the seats. 

"This looks amazing Emma, Thank you," David said as the came in. Emma smiled.

"Actually Regina and I made these, It was her idea to do the chocolate sauce, too. I have to say it's the best bit!" Emma said holding Regina's hand and smiling at her and her parents. 

"Oh! " Now said surprised then corrected herself "Thank you, Regina, It looks delicious," Snow said to her with a smile. Regina smiled back, uncomfortable with being complimented by Snow. She still struggled to not to say sarcastic comments in reply to Emma's mother sometimes. Most of the time now she could reel it in. Other times, she would just say it... because someone needed to say something. 

She, however, wasn't going to do it when Emma was staring at her, her face telling Regina not to say anything mean. "Thanks Snow, I am so glad you like it" She said going overboard with the mockingly cheesy smile she gave Snow. The glare from the blonde made her smirk. Regina turned to face Emma. "What my love?" She asked innocently. Still smirking. Emma raised an eyebrow at her. 

"Nothin'," Emma said suspiciously. " Come on everyone dig in. It's way better warm." Emma said changing the subject quick.

Aldara couldn't help but find this tiny family amusing. They all have incredible and slightly sinister stories, but this here shows her they were good people. Her mother included. Something about seeing her interact with Henry, Emma, and the blonde's parents. Made Regina seem less Evil Queen and more a woman who has come a long way from being in a really bad place. She chuckled a little. Henry did too. The other four looked at them confused. 

"Whats funny?" Regina asked them, The two siblings looked at each other. 

"Nothing Mom," Henry said in a mock-innocent tone, as Aldara and he tried to stifle their giggles. Regina just shook her head. 

"You two together is gonna be fun, if your already making private jokes," Regina said chuckling and tutting after sarcastically. 

"You bet ya, me and the kid are gonna be partners in crime. Ain't that right Henry" Aldara said chuckling. Henry nodded. They all ate their desserts rather quickly. Henry had asked for seconds. Regina had told him, no, but Emma gave her some of her's instead. resulting in a slap on the arm from Regina. 

"Teaching him bad habits Swan" Regina warned her. Emma just grinned at her. 

"But he likes our brownies so much Regina, can't deny a hungry boy his mommas' baking," Emma said to her. Regina just smacked her arm again. "Ow, that one hurt a little"

"Good, no means no Swan," Regina said but she was chuckling at her. Emma laughed at her failure to stay strict. 

"Never mind grumpy guts over here," Emma said pocking her tongue out at Regina. "I got ya, kid. Eat up," Emma said to Henry who giggled and started to eat the brownie. Regina stood up and cleared everyone else's plates and went to take them into the kitchen.  
"So, Emma you got any fun facts about Mom? She seems so... Straight-faced, you seem to bring out her goofy side more though." Aldara asked chuckling. Emma was shocked by her already being comfortable with calling Regina that so soon. Perhaps, Aldara has a soft spot for a good love story. 

"Yeah she's is amazing at Mario Kart. Do not challenge her... she gets scary." Emma said. "She even beats Henry on the Wii now, he was furious she beat his high score. He's been trying to get a higher one since."

"She even did an 'in your face routine' once... It was hilarious" Henry said chuckling.

"I'm pretty good at it me self. Mind a game, Henry?" Aldara said clearly she had inherited her mother's competitive side. Henry nodded enthusiastically.

"Did I hear someone mention Mario Kart. IM IN!" Regina said coming into the room a little faster than she usually would.

"Yeah I was going to kick your High score's ass," Aldara said getting up from the table with Henry who had already demolished his second brownie. 

"I doubt that. Henry and Emma have been trying for weeks now. Their not even close" Regina said smirking at them. 

"I'm not Emma or Henry," Aldara said grinning. 

"Oh god...There's two of them" Snow whispered to David and Emma. 

"Yeah, this could get... Interesting" David whispered back. "We have to stay to watch this!" Snow nodded. The family walked into the front room and Henry set up the Wii. At first, Regina let Emma and Henry play. Even Snow and David had a go. But Snow kept going the wrong way and David was well... hopeless. Henry had been the only person coming even close to beating Aldara.

Then it was Regina's go. Henry passed her the remote in defeat. Regina took it and put her game face on. 

"You're going down Girly," She said laughing a little. Aldara chuckled. 

"If ya think soo," Aldara said smirking. 

The started the game. At first, Aldara was in the lead but Emma and Henry knew Regina like her to think she was going to win. She even managed to stay back longer than usual. It wasn't until the last few seconds of the race that Regina started to catch up. She drove peach's motorcycle right up behind Aldara and just as she was approaching the fishing line. Regina released a red turtle that made Aldara's Koopa Troopa, flip high in the air. Adara let out an impulsive scream, as peach passed Koopa Troopa and crossed the finish line. Without thinking about it, so stuck in the game. Regina stood up and started dancing about like a loon. 

"Gina...Gina...BABE!" Emma shouted to get the brunette's attention. It worked Regina stopped dead still. Like Emma's voice had reminded her who was in the room. She cleared her through and dusted her skirt uncomfortable. She went back to her seat in total silence. 

" The poise and composure of a Queen everyone," Emma said giggling as she pulled an embarrassed Regina into her and cuddled her. Regina hid her face. 

"Got to say, Mom, you moves definitely improved from the last time. Was that a moonwalk you were attempting a minute ago?" Herny said giggling at his embarrassed mother. Regina just took her face out of Emma's jacket and glared at him.

"Don't make fun of me I'm your mother," Regina said in mock seriousness.

"Yeah, she'll send you to your room without dessert...Oh, wait" Emma said giggling as Regina slapped her chest playfully, Emma just pulled her in tighter. 

"Were only playing Babe. No need to get all flustered." Emma said chuckling. 

"I'm going to go get some drinks," Regina said smiling at them, releasing her self from Emma's cuddle.

"I'll come to help you," Emma said standing up with her. "What everyone having?" 

"Can I have a Soda, Please?" Henry asked politely. 

"Of course Henry, what did you think I'd let you have a beer?" Emma said to him sarcastically. 

"You did that one time," Henry said, then quickly covered his mouth with his hand. Regina turned to Emma with a raised eyebrow.

"You gave what to my son?" Regina said to her in disbelief.

"It was a sip, chill out. His was curious is all. I didn't think it was a big deal" Emma said defending herself. Regina just gave her a glare and walked out.

"Someone's in troouubblee" Aldara said chuckling a little. Snow and David chuckled as well. Emma just hung her head and followed Regina.


	19. Bacon!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey this is a bit late been struggling to get wifi. Trying to.sort it XD also writing on a tablet so may be a few mistakes I've missed.

Regina was cooking breakfast in the kitchen. Henry and Emma were supposed to be getting ready because Regina had only just managed to wake them, she had gotten up earlier herself to have a shower. She was already ready before she had tried to wake Emma, who had just mumbled "sleep" before turning over and dropped off again.  
Regina had also tried to wake Henry. He had managed to get out of bed and get dressed but was now asleep on the couch downstairs. Regina decided to leave him be. She could hear Emma walking about upstairs, so she knew that at least the blonde was up and about.   
Whilst she was in the middle of frying bacon for them , there was a knock on the door. She quickly went to answer it. Aldara stood their holding a small yellow book.  
"Hey sorry to intrude. I just thought you would want to know I found the book. I couldn't sleep so I went looking for this and found it in the library at three in the morning. Oh, also I may have broken into the library at three'o clock in the morning" Aldara said smirking a little to herself. It wasn't her fault the lock was so easy to pick. She was glad that she would finally be able to get to the enchanted forest and find Mari again. She couldn't believe how dramatically her life had changed since she had found Regina.   
She had spent so much time alone she had forgotten how much better it was when there was someone else to talk too.   
" As long as no one can tell you were there, you never were" Regina said winking at her. Aldara grinned.  
" I covered my tracks like a professional." Aldara said. They both chuckled lightly.  
"Come in. I'm cooking breakfast, want some?" Regina asked her as she stepped out of the door way to welcome her in.  
" Oh, I do love me some bacon." Aldara said following Regina as she lead her to the kitchen. Regina quickly went over to the frying pan and flipped the bacon. She placed a larger pan on the stove and broke four eggs into it, two at a time.   
" There bacon, eggs, mushrooms, baked beans, sausages and French toast." Regina said as she pulled out an extra plate for Aldara and started to plate up the food.  
" Where is my brother and his mother." Aldara asked as she walked over and started giving Regina a hand with dishing up.  
"Henry is asleep in the living room and..."  
" I'm up and ready, where's me bacon." Emma said sniffing the air as she walked down stairs.   
"In the kitchen love, where it always is." Regina said walking over to the blonde and kissing her good morning. " Aldara found the book we need"  
"When?" Emma asked Aldara who picked up the book and handed it to the blonde. Emma inspected the cover and flipped through the short book's pages." Ekh reading" Emma said, Regina tutted and took the book off her to have proper look.  
" Imma go wake up Henry." Aldara said wearing a devious smile.   
"Go ahead it usually takes me a while." Regina said smiling. Aldara left to go and wake him.   
Emma and Regina took the plates and cutlery into the dinning room. A few minutes later they heard Aldara shout 'HENRY' followed closely by a loud shreak from Henry. Emma and Regina looked at each other and both started laughing. A confused, pillow creased faced Henry came into the dinning room with Aldara who was smirking proudly.  
" I woke him." Aldara said seeing Regina and Emma laughing.  
" Yeah and almost made me deaf. Geez. Oh, breakfast" he said forgetting his rude awakening and sitting down at the table.   
"Defiantly your son." Regina said sitting next to Emma. Aldara sat down next to Henry and they all tucked in. Henry finished first and had to run up stairs to brush his teeth after Regina had reminded him he hadn't done it yet.   
" So what's the plan today. I'm guessing you guys have work but I was wondering if you know anywhere I could start looking for a way back to the enchanted forest." Aldara asked once they had finished. Regina who was already cleaning up the plates, looked at Emma.   
" I have no idea. We usually just find something. Emma do you think the dwarfs saved any beans?" Regina asked her. Emma shrugged.   
"It's worth asking Grumpy. He seems to know the most about it. That and he's in tune with the towns gossip. He's bound to know something that will help. We can talk to him at lunch, he's usually at Grannies." Emma suggested as she stood up. Regina nodded and took the plates into the kirchen. Emma went to grab her jacket and holsters.  
" Hey Al. Wanna come down the station, I could show you around town. There's not much happening at the moment sheriffing wise. Its kinda boring actually, but I managed to get a bullseye on the dart board the other day." Emma asked Aldara.  
" Finally, its only taken you five years." Regina said with a chuckled.  
"Hey, this is my sixth one now. Give me some credit at least I didn't throw it in someone's foot." Emma said giving a ponted stare to regina.  
" Well..." Regina said trying to defend herself.  
"Don't try to denie it, it happened. I know because it was my foot. I had to get a jab and everything." Emma said. Aldara laughed at the pair.   
"You guys crack me up. Seriously though, do I get to ride in the front seat...? Can I have a badge?" Aldara asked excitedly.   
"You can have a job, if you promise to do my paperwork." Emma said with a chuckled.  
"Yeah, I'm sick of getting it late because this one thinks Monday morning means Friday afternoon." Regina said poking Emma lightly in the shoulder.  
"Bleh reading" was Emma's reply.   
"I'm up for that as long as I get to do fun stuff too." Aldara said happy to have something to focus on.  
" Awesome, uniform is optional and have you ever used gun before? You might not need it but it comes in handy." Emma asked her. Aldara eyes widened.  
"A gun... Cool"   
" I'm taking that as a no, you haven't used one before. Don't worry I'll teach you." Emma said with a smile.  
"Not in the back garden Swan" Regina said giving Emma a stern look.   
" I only used it to get that gross rat that was living under the house. I stopped you rat problem. You welcome." Emma said smiling cheekily.   
" I never had a rat problem. It was that one rat." Regina rebuked.   
" Like I said your welcome." Emma said before pulling Regina in to her arms to kiss her goodbye. "See you in Grannies at half twelve. Order me a coffee and a bearclaw." Emma said to a dazed Regina. The brunnete just nodded.   
"Awee" Aldara said finding the pair adorible. Regina glare at them, her cheeks tinted red.   
"See you two later." Regina said, before quickly grabbing her coat and keys. "Henry we're leaving now." Regina shouted up the stairs. Henry ran down them holding his school bag.  
"Sorry mom, I couldn't find my science homework... It was in my pocket." Henry said to embarrassed, pulling his coat on.  
"Of course it was. Come on, let's get you too school. Bye Aldara , bye babe have a good day at work. Don't do anything I would do" She said as they all walked to the cars.   
"That doesn't really narrow it down. Bye Henry, make sure she behaves herself." Emma said. Regina threw a pen at the blonde. "Bye dearest" Emma said before quickly ducking into her car. Aldara did the same. Emma beeped her horn at Regina and Henry before driving off.  
The car was quite at first. The two woman not knowing where to start. Emma turned on the CD player forgetting the last time she was in the car, her and Regina had been singing along to the Rent sound track. "La bohemian" came on and Aldara stated to sing along with Emma. When the song finished they were giggling. Emma switched the radio on.  
"So I need to ask something. That Rumple guy, is he a big threat to you guys? What ever he was up to it seemed... Pretty serious. " Aldara remembering snippets of their convention.  
" Your mothers on it. That's what I wanted to speak to you about. I was thinking you both go undercover. You know Regina introducing you to them. Just a heads up their not nice lady's . I mean I don't know about 'the sea bitch' as Regina refers to her, but Malificent and Cruella are nastie pieces of work. Cruella can't kill you but Malificent... Is a dragon, so... "Emma said, unsure of what Aldara would make of her idea.   
"I think that sounds interesting. Does Regina know?" Aldara asked. The face Emma made told Aldara no. "So, how do you suppose I go about this?"   
"She's already going tonight to try and get them to trust her. I suggest just tagging along, that's usually how I do it." Emma said with a smirk.  
" Okay, I guess it could work. " Aldara agreed. Emma smiled at her before looking back at the road. They were quite for a second.   
"I'm glad you have her a chance. For a while there I thought you weren't going too." Emma said to Aldara who nodded.  
" I didn't think I would either, I guess seeing her, how she is now... She learnt from her mistakes and I realised if I killed her I would be just as bad as she once was. " Aldara said " and also a part of me refused I could do that to a person. "   
"I'm glad to hear it. Regina still struggles with it. I can tell when she's having a bad day, it usually because Rumple had pissed her off or she's had a particularly bad nightmare. I try to cheer her up with flowers and a movie but to be honest it's music that calms her down. She likes listening to classical music mostly but she's recently taken to listening to ACDC whilst she and Henry play on the PlayStation and that seems to have the same effect. Especially when she beats him." Emma said chuckling.  
" To be honest after meeting you guys, that doesn't surprise me. " Aldara said laughing too. " So, what's the plan today? " Aldara asked.  
"I was think perhaps we should drop by the office and then we could take a walk around town. I'll introduce you to some of the locals." Emma said as she drove through the town.  
" yeah I would like that... Are you meeting Regina for lunch? "Aldara asked the blonde.  
" Of course, twelve thirty like always. " Emma said with smile. " Your like Grannies, it's good food and there's always town folk there. Mostly the Dwarfs but you might meet a few others. "  
"Awesome, Henry raves about her pie. " Aldara said excited to meet the people she had been reading about.  
"Its good pie!" Emma said agreeing with her son. Aldara chuckled. Emma pulled up outside the sheriff office. They got out the car and walked into the office. David was already sat at his desk writing something.  
"Hey Dad, I brought Aldara along, I hope that's alright. Any calls." Emma asked him as they walked in. She hung her jacket up on the hook.   
"Hey Emma, of course that's okay. You liking the town so far Aldara?" He asked her .  
"Yeah, it's small and peaceful. It's been a while since I lived somewhere so... Quant." Aldara said with a small laugh.   
"Yeah it takes some getting used too that's for sure." Emma chuckled. "It takes some getting used too, living somewhere that if you were to tell someone you ate a banana for breakfast everyone in town will know by lunch."  
" You'll like it here. It may not be a big city but we're a little town with a big story. And everyone loves a big story" David said with a smile.  
" That's true, especially for the people in this town" Emma remarked.  
"So what do you guys do for fun around here?" Aldara asked knowing there must be something in the town to entertain people.  
" There's an arcade, also game's night at Grannies but that usually ends up badly if Grumpy's there. "David told her not knowing what to say.  
" That usually ends up being pretty entertaining itself. Last time I ended up having to haul him into a taxi. He even tried hitting dopey when he beat him at connect 3. " Emma said chuckling a little.   
"Sound like fun. Does Regina play too?" Aldara asked.   
" Only if Emma is present, her and Snow get quite competitive. Emma usually has to keep them in check. " David said making Emma chuckle.   
"It's true if I hadn't been there when Snow beat her at battleships. I think Regina might have trashed the diner. Instead she just flipped the table and left for an hour or so to chill out... She really doesn't like it when Snow beats her. " Emma said with a smirk. " Which is most of the time. "  
"You mother is just bizarrely really good at board games." David said with a shrug.   
"So Dad what do you think about Aldara joining the team? " Emma asked David who smiled at her.  
"Sounds good to me. Do you like running... This job involves a lot of running." David said with a small chuckle.   
" I guess, I mean running is okay. I was kinda looking forward to the detective side of things. Oh, perhaps a good car chase. " Alarda said excited by the prospect.  
" Storybrooke isn't usually the car chase kinda place. But your welcome to try help with what ever is about. At the moment were trying to keep an eye on Rumple and is band of... Witches. We need to make sure that Regina doesn't get herself into trouble. Those women know her dark side too well, if they are up to something then they'll drag her into it. I don't want her to put herself in a position where she has to do something she'll regret. " Emma told her. She was worried about Regina's plan to get Pinocchio to remember what he knew.   
"I'll try to remind her to stay on the right side but I can't guarantee it will work. If she is as stubborn as me it might be difficult." Aldara told her, worried her mother might not listen to reason if she had her mind set on something.  
" I know I just hope she doesn't go to off the rails. " Emma said a little scared she might lose Regina to the darkness.   
" I don't think my mother would ever do anything to hurt your relationship. She loves you Emma more than I thought possible. I don't think she would have accepted me, if she hadn't had you there to help her. We would of just ended up killing one another. " Aldara said to the blonde.  
" I-I... Your probably right. " Emma said with a chuckle. "Okay, let's go for a walk around town." She said. "If you hear anything Dad, radio me in. "  
" ,Sure thing, just... Remember to take your radio with you this time. " David said with a chuckle. He handed her the radio and she fixed it into her belt.   
"Right, that would be useful. Thanks Dad, see you at lunch." Emma said with an embarrassed smile.  
" Hey David, thanks for giving me a chance. I won't let you down. " Aldara said as she followed Emma out.  
"Bye girls." David said with a chuckle as Aldara almost skipped in excitement out of the room.  
**************************************************************************************************  
They had walked around town and Emma showed Aldara around. She even told her stories of what happened in different places. Aldara particularly liked Gold's shop. She had spotted a few things there she recognises from the Enchanted forest. It was strange to see how the fairy tale characters integrated themselves into living in Storybrooke.   
"Okay so the last stop is Grannies for lunch. Chances are Regina's beat us there." Emma said as they walked towards the diner. " just a heads up people are going to stare at you, just ignore it and well... Just ignore it" Emma told her as they came up to the door. They walked into the diner full of people, who all turned to face them as they entered. Regina sat at a table with Snow and David. It was still a surprise to Emma to see them getting along. Sure there were a few tense moments between Snow and Regina but they were usually when Emma or David had to step in.   
"Hey, your earlier than usual." Regina said looking at her watch. Emma took a seat next to her and kissed her cheek. Aldara sat next to Snow and David.  
"Yeah it turns out this town's pretty small, I like it though. Its... Peaceful. I like peaceful." Aldara said with a chuckle.  
" That it is, your be surprised at how fast things can turn from peaceful to complete and utter chaos. " Regina said as Grannie came over to take their order.   
" Hey guys, I see you have a guest. " Grannie said as she held out her hand and shook Aldara's hand. "Willow, but everyone calls me Grannie. " The older lady said to Aldara with a smile.  
" I'm Aldara, Regina's daughter. " She said nervously looking at Regina who smiled at her encouragingly.   
"Regina's daughter?! But how? I thought you couldn't..." Grannies said a little confused.   
" I can't but Aldara was born sometime before I took the potion. " Regina said the entire thing still sounded bazaar to her.   
"Regina can't remember having her. We think she took a memory potion to protect Aldara from Cora." Emma told the order woman.   
"Oh that woman was a piece of work. Regina probably had the right idea. I'm sorry lovely but your grandmother was a monster. You should count yourself lucky you didn't have to grow up in the castle. That woman destroyed everything she touched. Even her own daughter. I remember meeting Regina as a child and wondering how such a sweet girl was brought up by such a despicable mother. Sure as time moved on and Cora sunk her teeth in deeper, Regina was forced to hate everything and everyone, but she was never as beastly as that woman. Regina has a heart, Sure it got blackened but it was still there. Cora was ruled by the black void in her chest and would have turned you into a monster of her own making. " Grannie told the young brunette. Emma turned to smirk at Regina when Gramnie called her a sweet girl. Regina just pretend she hadn't noticed and took a sip of coffee. "Any who, orders everyone?"   
" I'll take my usual please Willow. " Regina said smiling at Grannie. She remembered meeting her too. She had been playing with some of the local children. Grannies had been baking whilst keeping an eye on them all. Cora had dragged Regina away by her ear. Regina had tried to forget the rest because it hurt her to much to think about what her mother had done to her after. She never played with any one again. She isolated herself and started to spend more time with the horses. That was when she and Daniel became closer. He was the one person she could talk to about how her mother treated her.She found comfort in his arms and to this day was the only person she had talked to about her punishments. Even Emma had only heard doctored memorys of Regina's childhood.   
"Sure thing Dear. Snow, Emma , David, your usual too?" She asked they each nodded. "So darling what will it be?" She asked Aldara who was looking at the menu.   
" I highly recommend her cheese burgers. They are incredible. " Emma said to Aldara with a smile.  
"Yeah sure, why not can't beat a decent burger." Aldara said remembering the first time she had eaten one. After having to hunt her food for years it was strange to come to a world that had so many options. Her first time eating a burger she had thought it was the most genius thing that she had ever tasted.   
The gang chatted a little before Grannie brought out their food. Aldara had to admit it all looked delicious. Emma watched as Aldara took the first bite. Aldara was a little self conscious as everyone watched her for her reaction.   
She bit into the burger and it was like her mouth exploded with flavour. She made a involuntary groaning sound, and grinned at Emma and Regina who were smiling at her.   
"Told you so. Grannies food is always on point." Emma said taking a note of her own. She hummed happily. "Taste better every time ."   
" This could possibly be the best thing I've ever eaten. I'm definitely going to become a regular here. " Aldara said once she had swallowed. She took a another bite and hit the table. "Damn, that's so good" she said forgetting her manners a little and talking with food in her mouth. They chuckled at her  
"If you like that wait until you try Regina's Apple crumple. It's beyond incredible." Snow said with a smile, She and Regina swapped a few recipes but that one Regina wouldn't give up.   
Really? " Aldara asked Regina, surprised at how domestic the Evil Queen had become.   
"That doesn't even come close to her lasagne." Emma said putting her arm around the now embarrassed Regina. The blonde kissed the blushing brunette softly. " No used in getting shy now baby. " Emma said with a giggle. "Your secret is out, Our regal Queen the master chief... You'd give Gordon Ramsay a run for his money." Emma said as she pulled her in closer. Regina chuckled at Emma and kissed her lips lightly.   
'I'm glad you like it 'cause your stuck with it forever now. " Regina said and stole one of Emma's fries. Emma have her a mock shocked face and Regina poked her tounge out at her before taking a few more.   
"Get your own fries lady. These are mine." Emma said but pushed the plate closer to her and Regina chuckled. "You owe me cheesecake."   
" Done, " Regina said as she and Emma shared the fries.   
"Hey, why don't you take Aldara to see your office after lunch. I'm meeting you there after work anyway and I'm pretty sure it's the only place left on our tour" Emma said with a smile and went to feed Regina the last fry. Regina just raised an eyebrow at her, Emma continued to hold it up to her and wiggled it a little. Regina just rolled her eyes and bit it. Emma ate the other half and grinned at her. Snow and David just stared at them, dazed. Aldara just chuckled and sipped her drink.  
"Awe" Snow said suddenly. Regina, who had been looking anywhere but at the other couple, turned her head quickly to look at her.   
"Did you just say awe! Hope your happy Swan, This is you doing." Regina said facing Emma trying to look stern but couldn't when she saw Emma smirking at her.   
" What did I do? " Emma said trying not to laugh. Regina chuckled and shook her head.   
" I used to be feared all over the Enchanted Forest. I've been with you for less than a month and now I've gone soft. " Regina said. Emma chuckled a little.  
"You started going soft way before we got together. Your just good at hiding it." Emma said to her.  
"No Swan, I was just trying to do good, your the one who's tricked me into trusting you all" Regina said with a smirk. Emma grinned at her.  
"Yeah but ain't ya glad I did?" Emma said with a chuckle.   
"Eternally so, but now I have that to contend with!" Regina said pointing at Snow. " I swear if people start thinking it's okay to awe at me, I'm going to revert. You do not awe at the Evil Queen! Even if I have gone soft. " Regina said trying to be serious, Emma just chuckled.  
"But baby, were adorible. Can't blame Mum for noticing." Emma said chuckling lightly wearing a grin. Regina just shook her head.   
" Mum you two are unbelievablely cute together, I'm sorry but I'm taking Snow's side on this." Aldara said laughing at the pair. "Awe"   
"You lot will be the death of me," Regina sighed and chuckled. They chuckled at Regina who just shook her head at the group. "So Aldara you want to come with me to pick Henry up after school too." Regina asked her, wanting to surprise her son when he came out.   
"Yeah that sounds like a plan." Aldara said. " I actually have something to give him. Is it okay if I pop over to my house just before to pick it up? " Aldara asked Regina who smiled at her.  
"Of course, what do you have for him" Regina asked her . Aldara smiled warily at her mother.  
"A guitar, it's one of my old acoustics. It's nothing special but I think he'll like it. He mentioned wanting to learn and so I just thought..." Aldara said unsure that Regina would approve of her gift. Regina could see her hesitation.  
" I think he'll love it. " She said with a soft, reassuring smile. Aldara smiled back.  
"Okay, awesome" Aldara said excited to have something to bond with Henry.   
"We should probably be off then," Regina said standing up and grabbing her bag. Emma grabbed her wrist.   
" Aren't you forgetting something. " Emma said with a cheeky smile. Regina rolled her eyes affectionately and kissed the blonde. "bye baby have fun"   
" Yes fun. That's what I always experience whilst working through the town's insurance forms. " Regina said with a light chuckle. " You just... Stay out of trouble. " Regina said smirking at her and brushing her hand through Emma's hair.   
"Yes ma'am" Emma said with a soft chuckle. "See you guys in a bit. Don't forget you got to get your Evil Queen on tonight. We need to work out what Rumple is after." Emma reminded her. Regina nodded softly.   
" I just hope I'm as good at acting as I am throwing fireballs. Gold is not an easy man to fool. As for the other three, I think it's fair to say their idiots, but Malificent will be harder to convince than the other two. " Regina said a little apprehensive of her plans to infiltrate the small group of villans.   
"Prehaps I could come along and help you, I mean you could use me turning up as an excuse. We could come up with a story. I mean they know you and Emma are dating. It might make it a little less believable that your suddenly back on their side. We could however pretend you and Emma fell out and we joined forces. Just drop some spiel about Emma not liking me and that caused a rift between the two of you. " Aldara explained, knowing it would be a long shot. Regina pondered her daughters words. Unsure if was willing to put her daughter in danger.  
"I- " Regina started in a waving voice.  
"Mom together we would be formidable. I'm sure even the dark one wouldn't be able to pull one over on us. I just... Want to make sure your safe." Aldara reassured her. Regina smiled softly and nodded. Emma shot a surprised glance at her parents who were also shocked at Regina's acceptance of help.   
"Okay, but if they try anything funny I'm not going to hold back." Regina told the table. She kissed Emma and took a deep breath. " Come on, I better get back to the office. I have a lot to do before I visit my old friends. " she said as she and Aldara went to leave.  
"Will I see you later." Emma asked her nervous about Regina having to pull their plan off.   
" Yes, I'll drop Henry off with you before we go" Regina told her anxious looking girlfriend.   
"This is going to suck." Emma said sadly. Regina nodded in agreement.   
"You two are worse that me and your father" Snow said to Emma as Regina and Aldara left Grannies. Emma just chuckled at her.  
"I don't think anyone is as bad as you two." She said sipping her coffee. Regina befriending Rumple and the others meant her and Regina were going to have to stay apart for a while. Emma knew it was necessary but she couldn't help but dislike the plan.  
*************************************************************************************************  
Regina sat at her desk doning a pair of reading glasses that Emma had gotten her to help with her headaches. Aldara strolled around Regina's office admiring the womans choice in decor. She picked up a small golden box and opened it, curious of its content. Inside was a delicately, handcrafted bracelet with a small horse pendant hanging from the carefully crafted leather wrist band. Regina notice her looking at it with a confused expression.  
" Daniel gave it me the day my mother killed him. It was an early... " Regina 's voice broke a little, remembering the moment vividly. " engagement gift. He was saving up his small wage to buy a ring. " she informed her daughter with a lump in her throat.   
" it's beautiful " Aldara said as she gave her mother a soft smile. Regina nodded, standing up and walking over to her.  
"He made it himself. I hid it from my mother, I knew she would have destroyed it. She hated that I continued to 'pine' after him. " Regina told her as she gently took it from her daughter. The older brunette looked at the momento. "You know what.. " Regina said sounding a little choaked up. "I think she knew taking it from me would make me realise sooner that I shouldn't trust her. I was young, naive and our for blood. That bracelet was one of the only things I used to have that reminded me, love existed in my life. I just... needed the reminder more often when I came here. Until I found Henry it helped to combat the loneliness... For a short time. " Regina said remembering what it felt like back when she had thought she had won. of course it wasn't until Emma turned up, she had realised how wrong she had been.  
"Being lonely can be hard to handle. I get that. I kept a few things that reminded me of the people I love. It's hard not having anyone to talk too, especially when your having a rough time. I just had to keep remembering that it's worth it just to be able to talk to them again."   
" I don't want to seem like I'm being noisy, but is their more than one person waiting for you?. " Regina asked wondering who the younger brunette was refuring too. Aldara nodded wearing a small smile.  
" Mari and I made a lot of allies in the rebellion... Against you. " Aldara said to her with a nervous smile. "We made friends with few of them and cared for some of the younger kids in the camp. Me and Mari took in a young boy who had recently been attacked by a werewolf, resulting in him also turning into a werewolf. He struggled to come to terms with what happened to him. Mari helped him by foreshadowing when he would turn. We would find a safe place for him to spend the night. Regina " She explained to Regina who was listening intently to h we story.  
"He was a good kid, he's probably an adult by now. He told us his name was -----, but we called him Arctic, because when he was in his werewolf form his fur was as white as snow." Aldara said with a smile that showed she was reminiscing about her time in the forest. "He was slowly becoming more tame as he became more comfortable with his affliction. It was strange but we became his sort of adopted parents. He would look to us as role models, even though we were only a few years older than him." Aldara said a sad smile settling in her features. "As Mari began to struggle more with his dreams, Arctic was able to calm him. In his wolf form he would curl up next to Mari and his soft fur would comfort him when his mind wouldn't settle. We became a dysfunctional family but it worked well for us. Arctic saved our lives in more than on occasion and we protected him as best as we could" Aldara told Regina who have her a small smile.   
"They both sound like good people, and good people can be hard to find. I'm happy you found people who love you. That is something that took me a long time to find and accept. My advise for you is don't give up hope. They will be waiting for you to come home and when you do you can tell them about Storybrooke and perhaps you can bring them here. I know Grannie would be happy to help Arctic, she's had a lot of experience with werewolves, considering her granddaughter is one too. Mari can finally talk to the Sandman and maybe you guys could... stay here." Regina said unsure Aldara would accept her offer. She had only just started to walk up to her and Regina didn't know if Aldara truly trusted her yet.  
"If Mari and Arctic are happy here, I'd be glad to stick around. It's nice... Knowing that you and I might be able to become an actual family. I spent so much of my life resenting the fact that I was the Evil Queens daughter. It's strange to admit out loud, but I'm kind of proud.to be you daughter Regina. I thought I would always hate you but, I don't think I ever really did. I always thought you had abandoned me because you didn't want me. Seeing you now; talking to Henry. It's made me realise you didn't hate me, you were protecting me. I... Thank you." Aldara said a little embarrassed by her words.   
" Don't thank me yet. I still can remember anything and until I do... I don't think I can forgive myself for letting you go. You're my daughter and I left you in the forest. I'm no better than my mother, she did the same to my sister and... It ruined Zelena's life. I can't even wrap my mind around the fact that I followed in her footsteps. The only thing I have that keeps me from thinking the worst is Henry and Emma. Without them by my side right now, I dont by think I would be coping as well as I am. These kind of things usually have a negative effect on me. They could have hated me for it all and instead they believe in me. It's an odd feeling to have someone especially two people who trust me so entirely but... I'm getting used to it" Regina told her, a lump rose in her throat. Aldara just smiled at her mother, Regina was confused by her expression.  
"I believe in you too. From what I can see, your a good person who was taught that being good was a weakness. You had so many things working against you that I can fully understand why you did the things you did. It was pure survival, if you hadn't done what your mother expected of you then you most likely would have been tortured, or worse killed. You did what you had to do to survive." Aldara said to Regina who have her a watery smile. Regina couldn't reply, instead she tentatively held her arms out, not knowing how else to express her genuine joy that Aldara had accepted her history. Aldara a little uncomfortable not ever really being a affectionate type of person wrapped her arms around Regina, who smiled and pulled her a little closer.

"If there is anyway to make up did, I will do it. No questions asked. From now on If you ever need my help, I'm here for you. " Regina said and release Aldara from the hug. Although it had been a little awkward it also released a little tension between them. Regina couldn't help but smile a little to herself. The thought that she might actually finally have everything she had wished for, made her happier than she ever though possible. She wasn't going to let this happy ending slip from her grasp. This time she was going to fight with every thing she had.


	20. It's a fact.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a while just got the internet back the other day :\ thank you for reading the fic. I hope you like the new chapter :)

Regina and Emma were in the kitchen making dinner together whilst Aldara gave Henry his first guitar lesson. They could hear Aldara teaching Henry and Henry's sighs of frustration when he couldn't get the right sounds. 

"How dedicated to this is he?" Emma asked a little anxiously. "Regina turned to face Emma, raising a questioning eyebrow." I mean are we gonna be waking up to him practicing in the mornings. "

" Well you will be I'm usually up before both of you anyway. But if you are asking if he is just going to give in, then I think you've forgotten who our son is. " Regina said smiling at a Emma who ran a hand over her face. 

" I think we should invest in a sound proof room. " Emma said half joking half serious. It wasn't that she wasn't excited for Henry it was just she also like to sleep in. Regina already had her getting up earlier than usual. She was only just getting used to that, she didn't want her rare weekend lie in to be taken away too. 

"I tell him no guitar unti we all had breakfast." Regina said putting her hand on Emma's lower back kissed her cheek. She noticed a nervous look in Emma's eyes. Emma knew Regina would see it and quickly looked away. "Emma what is it?" Emma just turned away to put something in the oven. " Emma? " Regina said stopping the blonde by catching her hand. " What's wrong? " Emma sighed.. She turned back to look at Regina.

"I'm worried about tonight. What if the don't by it. Or worse they do and your forced into some weird Rumple plan. I might not know them well but I know there all dangerous. Aldara might not like what she sees. Make sure she doesn't blow your cover because I don't think Rumple will take it well." Emma said to Regina who understood why Emma was scared of there plan.

"Trust me Miss Swan, I've been known to be a little dangerous myself. I can take care of myself. As for Aldara, she knows what she's doing. We are going to be fine." Regina told Emma pulling her intro a hug. Emma kissed Regina pulling up the brunette closer. She then rested her forehead against Regina's.

"That better be a promise." Emma wispered. Regina pulled her back in for a kiss. 

"That my love is a fact." Regina said before lifting a hand to Emma's face to softly stroke her cheek.

**************************************************************************************************  
"Right so we just have to prove to you that we're serious about turning against the charmings? " Aldara asked the three witches stood opposite Regina and her. Ursula nodded at them.

"Of course. We all know Regina's gone soft. We just want to make sure we all...on the same page. We can't have you two running back to those idiots telling them what we're up to. This about us finally getting what we deserve and thos idiots ending up miserable. We need to return the world to its natural order. Where the villains win and those wet towels are left to rot in the rain." Cruella said to them as Malificent stared at the mother and daughter looking for signs that they were working for the other team still.

She knew from years of experience that Regina wasn't being honest with them. She knew how the brunette worked and could see the nervous look in her eyes. 

"To be honest I think our Evil Queen has fallen down the charmings rabbit hole, but if you want us to trust you, your going to have to prove your loyalty." Malificent said as she walked closer to them. " Aldara love. " she said quickly looking at the younger brunette who was anxious under the dragons glare. " Do you mind explaining why a few days ago you wanted nothing more that to kill you mother and now you've joined sides. I mean it is a little... Inconsistant. " 

"Uh... We talked it out. I reminded mother of her hate for those menaces and she agreed that our combined power could be used for a more... Effective approach to our problems." Aldara said using the dark tone she had managed to prefect over the years. Regina nodded to confirm.

"Well if this is true, you wouldn't mind if we ran a few tests. Lets go for a drive. " Ursula suggested with a sky smirk. Malificent nodded in approval.

"Oh yes Darlin' a drive is just what we need." Cruella said with a dark chuckle. The three witches walked of heading for Cruella's car, Regina and Aldara looked at each other nervously.

"We can do this" Aldara said a semi confident tone.

"We can do this" Regina said determinedly although bringing her one and only daughter along with her had put her on edge. If this went wrong it wasn't just her that would suffer. They followed the treo to the car.

"Aldara you can sit in between Mal and Ursula. Regina you are riding shot gun." Cruella told them. Ursula looked at Aldara with a sneer. 

" Don't look so worried dear, evil is in your DNA" Malificent said and Aldara climbed into the car. Regina got into the passengers seat next to Cruella who gave her a wicked grin. She started the car and headed for their first destination. Regina throughout the drive glaced at her daughter through the mirror. She could see the underlying fear in her expression. Something most people wouldn't notice. Regina how ever could see it because she wore the same expression herself. This was going to be a long night. 

Cruella drove them to the rail way tracks. She halted the car on the tracks. In the distance wa the obvious sounds of a train approaching them.

"What the he'll are you doing?" Regina asked trying to remain calm in the situation that had been forced upon her.

" The best way to see if you've truly gone soft on us. " Cuella chuckled making Regina more uncomfortable. "If you move us before the train hits us it's proof your playing the hero." 

" Proof I'm playing hero have you finally gone completely mad? " Regina asked angrily placing quickly at her daughters shocked face. The sound of the train approaching became louder as it came closer. Regina wasn't sure what to do, on one hand they were right she wouldn't have saved them a few years back. Now however was struggling to keep her cool. She knew moving the car would make them realise she wasn't her old self. Something told her she had to do something. She saw the approaching headlights of the train. It was going to hit them in the next five minute. Without giving it a second though she magicked the car off the tracks.

"I knew you had gone soft. The Evil Queen turns into a hero. Now are we done here or are you really here to prove yourself." Malificent sneered at the brunnette who growled under her breath. 

" I don't see how a game of chicken is going to prove anything. " Aldara said, wanting to help to keep their cover.

"Okay Darlin' you pick the next item on our agenda." Cruella said with a smirk. 

"I have an idea." Regina said and with a flick of her wrist took them all to the sheriff 's office.

"So far I like it" Cruella smirked. Malficent and Ursula did look so convinced.

"You stay there we'll be back in a second. Aldara follow me." Regina ordered the witches . Aldara wasn't sure what her mother was up too but trusted her to have a plan. Once the were alone in the office Aldara seemed it safe to speak. 

"So... Why are we here?" Aldara asked wanting in on the brunette 's plan.

"I just need to find..." Regina said opening a locked safe. "Ah ha, this." Regina said dangling the key to the garage where the sheriff 's car was. 

"You going to steal the sheriff's car? Isn't that going to make Emma angry?" Aldara asked wondering if Regina had forgotten who the sheriff was.

"No because were going to steal David's car. It needed replacing anyway so I may as well just.. Despose of the old one. " Regina said with a small smirk. 

"Cleaver, so do you have the key's to the car?" Aldara asked wondering how long Regina had been cooking this plan up.

"Who needs keys when you have magic. " Regina said with a sly smirk. They walked into the garage and walked over to the car. 

"Do you want to drive?" Regina asked her. Aldara was a little overwhelmed and didn't think twice before nodding.

"Where too?" Aldara asked not knowing where to go.

"Somewhere out of the way of the way. I don't want any casualties." Regina said, Aldara nodded and Regina unlocked the car with a flick of her hand. 

"Let's do this!" Aldara opened the door and sat at the wheel. Regina got into the passenger seat after opening the garage door. Aldara drove to the three witches. Cruella seemed to like their plan and climbed in. Ursula followed behind raising an eyebrow suspiciously. Malificent, who didn't seem all to interested in what any of them where doing, climbed in last.

"Darlin' could you hurry this along, it's quite cramped back here." Cruella said shuffling in her seat trying to get more comfortable.

" Will you just stop moving it's not going to change the fact were packed in here like sardines. " Ursula complained getting annoyed with Cruella wriggling about in her seat.

" Both of you shut it, will you just drive already. " Malificent said already having had enough of the other two's inability to get along for five minutes.

"With pleasure." Aldara said finding the who thing hilarious and struggling to contain her laughter. She started the car up and drive through Storybrooke. She finally came to the edge of the forest. She turned into the forest track and pulled the car up somewhere it wouldn't cause harm to anything.

"What now?" Cruella asked them as Regina and Aldara opened the car door.

" Now, we have some fun. "Regina said getting out the car, Aldara followed and soon enough the other three scrambled out. Regina walked away from the car. Aldara stood beside her. Cruella, Ursula and Malificent stayed by the car.

" I'd move" Regina warned them as she made a fire ball. Aldara did the same, both of them aiming at the car. As if I'm since the both drew their arms back an sent the fire balls flying towards the car. The car instantly exploded, flying up in the air. It came down with a heavy bang on flames, scorching the grass beneath it. Regina and Aldara grinned at each other both knowing they probably shouldn't be enjoying what they were doing but neither could hide their grins. 

The others stood there a little stunned, none of them spoke.

"Do you think they trust us now?" Aldara asked hoping it would be that easy. Regina shook her head.

"There never going to trust us, we just need them to think we're on their side, hopefully this was enought, but I doubt it. There always going to be suspicious we just need to keep our cover." Regina said to Aldara. They walked up to them, Cruella flicked her long fur scarf over her shoulder as she approached.

"So what do you want from us?" She asked as she neared them. 

" We want to help find the author. We heard you had a lead?" Regina said to Malificent, who smirked.

"You don't even know what we're planning to do, why have you suddenly decided that you want to help?" Malificent asked the brunette who smiled briefly at her.

" Because we realised that those do-gooders will never get anywhere. We want results and the only way I know how to get them is by doing this our way. " Regina told her hoping it would be enough to convince them of their sudden 'Change' of heart. 

"Can we please just get on with this." Aldara asked in a bored tone, sick of having to play their games. 

" Sure, we'll be in touch., Rumple will want to speak with you too. I don't think he would be so convinced. He seems to think you and the Saviour are in love. " Ursula said with a smirk. Regina knew he would know because he wouldn't be Rumplestiltskin if he didn't. 

"Are you serious, they can barely be in a room together. They always end up arguing, from what I've seen. Mom told me she tries to stay as far away from her and her parent's as possible. She's only gone along with them because she was waiting for me to turn up." Aldara said, Regina a little taken back at how fast Aldara had though of a cover story. 

" You knew you had a daughter and didn't think to mention it at all? " Malificent said to her, finding it strange that Regina would hide it from her. 

" I don't see why that's important. I have a right to my secrets. " Regina said to them all. 

"You secrets are the reason we are concered." Ursula said a little forcefully. Regina took a step towards Ursula, who smirked smugly. 

"Your only concern should be is, if the Charming find the Author before we do." Regina told her a little to on edge with the topic of conversion.

"We're not imbeciles Regina, we saw you two the other day. It was quite obvious there's some thing going on between you." Cruella sneered, Regina looked at her and laughed darkly.

" Wouldn't you like to know. " Regina said with a sky smirk. Cruelly just flared at her. 

"Yes Regina... We would." Ursula said getting annoyed with the brunette not telling them anything.

" Trust me...you wouldn't " Aldara said with a chuckle. Regina turned to her daughter wearing a smirk but trying to look angry with her. 

"The Saviour is just a hobby. She and I have an... agreement." Regina told them calmly. 

"I don't know what kind of agreements you make Darlin ', but mine usually include wearing clothes. " Cruella said knowing what Regina was hinting at.  
"Well, maybe you should expand you horizons. " Aldara said with a chuckle. Regina smirked as Cruella sneered at her.

"Perhaps we shouldn't trust you if your sleeping with that brat. " Cruella's pay , Regina clenched her fist and had to fight back her natural reaction to Emma being insulted. 

"Perhaps you would keep your snout out of my personal life and get down to business. " Regina said realising if she didn't stay away from Emma whilst their trying to pull this off their cover would be blown.

"I'm just warning you. If we do find out you are working for them, it will be bye bye author and hello nine foot hole." Cruella said aggressively before turning to leave.  
" Are you sure this is going to work? " Aldara asked wondering what might happen if their plan didn't work.  
"No, but we have to try, what ever there planning to do it's going to mean hell for all of us. Rumple will make sure of that. At least this way we won't be completely in the dark." Regina told her knowing it probably wasn't her best plan to date, but it was simple enough. Even if it did mean having to partake in criminal activities.  
"So we just... Play along?" Aldara asked hoping they could pull it off. Regina nodded softly. The other three had disappeared once they had been convinced enough, that and the explosion had probably drawn some attention.  
"The only problem is they will be watching me like a hawk. I don't think going home is an option at the moment." Regina said sadly, realising it might be a long time until she and Emma would be able to see each other properly.  
"That's alright we can lay low at my house until it's safe." Aldara said knowing Regina would be upset about not being able to see Emma and Henry that night. Regina nodded and Aldara teleported them to her front door. " You should call Emma and explain what happened." Aldara said to Regina who smiled weakly as she pulled out her phone. Aldara unlocked her front door and went inside. Regina stayed outside to talk with Emma. She waited patiently for the blond to pick up.  
"Hey, how did it go? Are you guys alright?" Emma said sounding a little anxious. Regina smiled to herself at the concerned blonde.  
"I'm fine baby, so is Aldara, it went well... considering." Regina said recalling the nights rampage though Storybrooke. What Aldara had failed to tell her was she was going to race through the streets of Storybrooke at midnight. That and the fact she was going to have to find David a new car.  
"What happened?" Emma said seeming a little calmer. Regina wasn't ready to tell her about that night's adventure. Instead she wanted to see how far she had got with the spell and portal to the Enchanted forest.  
"You'll find out tomorrow, I don't think I'll be making it home tonight." Regina said she could hear Emma sighed disappointedly down the phone. "In fact I'm going to have to stay here for a few weeks. They were suspicious of us, I had to make something up, so I told them we had an 'arrangement'." Regina said a little awkwardly, but chuckled.  
"An arrangement?" Emma asked her, Regina hummed waiting for Emma's response. She heard a soft chuckle. "So what is this arrangement? " Emma said, Regina knew she was getting up and walking away from Henry because the sounds of the tv disappeared.  
"You know... Don't make me embarrass myself. I couldn't lie about us sleeping together because they knew something was up, so I just downplayed how serious the relationship was. Anyway any luck on the spell front?." Regina asked hoping Emma would have found something.  
"Yes and no. There are a few spells that all reveal memorys. We just need to work out which one will be the right one to use." Emma sighed, she had been reading through the book all night, she had an idea of what had to happen but still the details were shaky.  
"That's okay well find out soon. It will be in there somewhere..." Regina sighed, tierdly. She looked up at the clear night sky. "I wish you were here." Regina said as she gazed up at the beautiful night sky. Emma didn't say anything.  
Suddenly the blonde appeared in front of Regina. She grinned widly,proud she had managed to actually teleport. Regina stood there stunned for a second before pulling the blonde into a tight hug., Emma hug her tightly back. Regina lent back to look at her face.  
"I had no idea you could do that but I'm so grateful you can." Regina said over the moon that Emma was there.  
"To be honest neither did I. I just tried it on a whim and... It worked, it actually worked... Wow. " Emma said with a beaming grin. Regina shook her head and chuckled softly. " So what was the reason you wanted me here so badly? "  
" I was just... " Regina said seeming a little embaressed. Emma have her a look that told Regina she was being silly. "I wanted you to see the stars out here. There just so beautiful it seemed a shame we couldn't look at them together." Regina said her cheeks turned a little red. Emma just chuckled and kissed her.  
Emma lifted her head to look at the sky, which she had to admit to herself, was stunning. She had never seen so many stars in the sky before. The moon was over head and it 's light shone across the clearing.  
"It is... Beautful" Emma said in a breathy tone. She looked back at Regina,who was still looking up. Emma couldn't help but note her eyes which were glistening in the moon light. She stared at the incredible woman in front of her. Regina smiled back a little timidly, she broke away for a few moments and conjured up a blanket. She shook it and let it float to the floor.  
"Care to star gaze with me Miss. Swan?" Regina said with a soft smile and say down on the blanket. Emma just smiled to herself and lay down on the Blanket pulling Regina down next to her and wrapping her arms around the brunette.  
"We should do this more often. It's really peaceful out here." Emma said with a contented sigh.  
" Peaceful... And really cold. " Regina said as she magicked up another blanket to lay over the top of them. She cuddled herself in closer to Emma and lay her her on the blondes shoulder. Both looking up at the sky. Emma pressed a kiss on Regina's forehead. Regina looked up at the saviour with teary eyes but a small smile on her features.  
"Emma Swan will you marry me?" Regina whispered. Emma looked at her, shocked but trying to play it cool.  
"I think the question Dear, is will you marry me?" Emma said with a grin.


End file.
